


The Life and Lies of Venus Potter

by Gryffinpuff04



Series: 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖎𝖋𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕷𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖁𝖊𝖓𝖚𝖘 𝕻𝖔𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗 [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, Ginny Weasley Bashing, Gryffindor, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Multi, Polyamory, Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Ron Weasley Bashing, Slytherin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:21:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28183830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gryffinpuff04/pseuds/Gryffinpuff04
Summary: "Okay, got it! So your Minnie," She begins, pointing to the woman, "And you're Sevy" She says, pointing to the man. It is at this point that the two adults almost look like they are going to break down  into tears. "After all these years..." Sevy mutters, head bowed, and Venus only just manages to capture what he says, and with a smile on her face she replies with, "Always."  The word just felt right saying it.Tom Riddle x OCSoulmate AU
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Series: 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖎𝖋𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕷𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖁𝖊𝖓𝖚𝖘 𝕻𝖔𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066436
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	1. ᴀᴄᴋɴᴏᴡʟᴇᴅɢᴇᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ

-𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚌𝚘-𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 

\- 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝚁𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙼𝙸𝚃𝟻𝟹𝟸

-𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚞𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚎

\- 𝚄𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛 (𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜) 𝚍𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐


	2. ᴇᴘɪɢʀᴀᴘʜ

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚜 

-𝙺𝚎𝚗 𝙺𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚔𝚒


	3. ᴘʀᴏʟᴏɢᴜᴇ

It was just another calm and gentle morning in the Dursley household, the noise of sizzling bacon slicing through the silence and the clatter of cutlery being placed upon the rounded table. "Diddy-darling, would you mind waking up Venus? Be careful not to startle her too much, we don't want a repeat of last year." Petunia shudders at the memory, but before Dudley could even exit the room, thumping footsteps come from the stairs.

"I'm here, I'm here! I didn't forget your birthday D!" Venus comes rushing into the room panting, her red hair unrulier then ever, she would have dove straight into the dining table if Dudley hadn't tackled her onto the couch. "I didn't think you would Prongsie, but we all know how much you love your beauty rest." He teases, causing a small pout to form on Venus' lips before they both start laughing and rolling across the floor.

"Would both of you quieten please, and be careful not to break any furniture, I don't want to replace anything for at least another three months." This causes Dudley and Venus to freeze as they look at Petunia sheepishly. "Oh my gosh! I just remembered! I left your present in the broom cupboard!" Venus exclaims and unravels herself from her cousin before dashing out of the room and to the stairs where a small white door stood.

A few slow moments later and Venus comes back into the room, two boxes in tow, a smirk plastered on her face. "Oh no, I don't like that look, get that look off of your face right now! What have you done Prongsie? I can see that gleam in your eyes and I do not like it, not one single bit!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, dear cousin of mine." Venus replies to Dudley while slowly moving closer to him, her smile widening, "Now won't you please indulge me in the pleasure of watching you open my gifts, after all, you did want more this year than your last."

"Why must you do this every single year?" Dudley whines while a small smile wiggles its way upon his face, his body language obviously indicating that he is slightly excited to start shedding the pile of brightly coloured paper opposite him. "Because," Venus starts "Giving you a gift and watching you open it is a highlight of my day, you're my best friend Dudley, I'd do anything to make you smile".

Petunia's heart melted at the sight and wished so dearly that she could photograph this memory and keep it for forever, the sight of seeing her younger sister's daughter and her dearest Duddy-kins getting on together, and having a relationship like she wished she had with her own sister.

"Ah, there's the birthday boy!" The booming voice of Vernon Dursley echoes throughout the living room as he lets out a yawn and kisses Petunia on the cheek and pulls Dudley into a hug, "C'mon Dudders," exclaimed Venus "Open the prezzies I got you, I wanna see your reaction to them!" . Dudley paled slightly as he remembered the impish grin Venus had earlier displayed as he reached out and picked the two obnoxiously pink wrapped parcels from the top of the pile. Before he could open them however Venus snatched them off him and put one in each hand before offering the two to him. "Left or right Duddy dearest?". A villainous smirk casting a spell upon her lips. "Left?" Dudley whispered, trying to gain any sort of information from her face on whether one box had something gross in it or not. Venus's smirk grew wider as she hands him the bigger of the two boxes. Dudley began slowly peeling back the wrapping paper, hoping to avoid anything jumping out at him; and as he saw that it was simply a cassette tape he finished ripping off the paper. "DEBUSSY!?" Dudley cried out, questioning his sister's sanity at why she would get him a Debussy cassette.

After receiving no answer he turned around greeted with the image of his sister in all but direct blood curled up on the floor in silent laughter. He turned to his mother and father hoping for some sort of help but was only met with them too trying not to burst with suppressed laughter. This only further adds to Dudley's confusion and before he could ask the burning question on the tip of his tongue, Venus starts heaving with laughter, unable to keep a straight face any longer, "O-open. The. Other. One. Diddy." She gasps out in between heaving coughs while trying to regain her breath.

Dudley looks apprehensively at the second small parcel, it is around the same shape and size as the other one, but Dudley knew better than to put his blind trust into her, known to be pranking hands. With looks of encouragement from the rest of his family, he just hopes whatever lives above that nothing bad will happen. He carefully tears the thin layer of paper away, flinching so as not to be affected by the possibly dangerous gift, but after a few seconds of still silence, he carefully opened his eyes and screamed.

"YOUGOTMETHENEWWALKMAN!"

***

It was early morning for the Dursley household, all was quiet and still. The only noise was a slight creak of the pipes in the walls. "VENUS!VENUS!VENUS!GET UP! GET UP! GET UP!" A hand appears from under the covers and throws a pillow towards the fire alarm like the noise of her brother. She groaned as she peeled herself away from the warm comfort of her bed and pulled on a dressing gown before following her brother down the stairs towards the inviting smell of breakfast.

Upon entering the kitchen Venus was greeted by a hug from her aunt in a similar manner as how a venus fly trap grabs its prey. An "Oomph" emitted from her small body as she was engulfed again but this time by her uncle. "Little V! Stop. Hugging. My. Parents. And. Come. Open. Your. PRESENTS!", "Alright, alright I'm coming, I'm coming.". Finally giving into her cousin Venus allowed herself to be dragged into the sitting room where a small parcel in the shape of a book lay upon the coffee table, put to the side of the pile of presents that were at home in the corner of the room by the fireplace. Venus looks at the parcel apprehensively. While Dudley isn't normally one for pranks, it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to tease or get back at her for things she has done to him in the past, and she did play a small present prank on his birthday...

Dudley wouldn't steal a pranking idea would he? Venus thought while everyone looked at her with encouragement. "Go on," Dudley urged "Open the present, this one is just from me to you." Venus stared at the present apprehensively before slowly starting to peel back the wrapping paper. To her surprise, nothing jumped out at her, no explosion of glitter, nothing; instead inside the wrapping lay a beautiful journal that was just begging to be filled with Venus's neat cursive handwriting.

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes at the thoughtful present, "I've always wanted a journal to write in." She muttered out as she wrapped her arms around Dudley, a big, warm smile adorning both faces. This was again a moment that Petunia wished she could capture and savour forever.

"Yeah, you could call it, 'The Life and Lies of Venus Potter'," Dudley teases while nudging her side, she just giggles, "There's no way in hell I would ever call my journal that!" She replies with a small huff, not showing off that she was actually considering Dudley's naming suggestion because she knew it would just bolster his ego, and she did not want to feed those flames.

RRRRIINNNNNGGGGGG

{𝐀 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞.}

"I'll get it!" Venus yelled, but before she could take a step, Dudley caught her arm, trying to hold her back as he protested, "No I'll get it!" This sets off another one of their morning races to the door, Venus making sure that Dudley trips over one of her feet before making her escape. This was a daily occurrence for the two, each morning they would race for the post, no matter what time in the morning it was, everything just seemed to be a competition between the two.

"Hello?" Venus asked, her voice puffed from sprinting to the door, wanting to get there before Dudley did. Venus was simply expecting it to be the postman with a parcel or something that needed signing. What she was not expecting was to be greeted by the faces of two complete strangers. One, a lady - perhaps in her late 40s or 50s - in emerald green robes? With a pointy witch's hat!?, and a man dressed all in black, with long dark hair and a stoic look on his face.

Even though she was shocked at how the two dressed, she had been informed from a young age that she was a witch just like her parents, and she took a wild guess that these two were from 'Her world' as Vernon would say. With another one of her mischievous smiles she half bows she addresses the two in a fake, over the top, posh, British accent,

"This is your lucky day, oh so mighty powerful wizards, for you have Venus Prongs Potter at your service, tell me what you want and I shall make it appear, whether it be a flying pig or a dancing bourbon biscuit" An all too familiar villainess glint in her eyes that the two adults were surprised and slightly shocked to see in the young witch. As she lifts up her head she takes in both of their expressions, the woman's was one of sadness mixed with fondness, while the man's was one of shock and disbelief, tears even leaking out of the corners of his eyes as they allow a few seconds of silence to pass between the three before the man croaks out, "You're Venus Potter?"

"Why of course- sorry what are your names again?" Venus begins, looking in between the two.

"I am Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor, Professor Minerva Mcgonagall, and this is Potions Master and Head of Slytherin, Professor Severus Snape" Venus looks between the two Professors before speaking up once more,

"Okay, got it! So you're Minnie," She begins, pointing to the woman, "And you're Sevy" She says, pointing to the man. It is at this point that the two adults almost look like they are going to break down into tears. "After all these years..." Sevy mutters, head bowed, and Venus only just manages to capture what he says, and with a smile on her face she replies with, "Always." {"𝗵𝗮𝗷𝗳𝗷𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗷𝗳 𝗮𝗵𝗵𝗵𝗵𝗵𝗵𝗵" "𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝘀'𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲} The word just felt right saying it.

"So Little V, are you going to introduce me to your friends? ." Venus jumped a little as Dudley had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but when she realised it was him, she relaxed and pulled him in for a hug. "Dudders this Minnie and this is Sevvy wevy" Venus points to the two wizarding folk in front of her. Dudley started laughing at the nicknames, "You always have had a natural talent for names, Prongsie." At the nickname Dudley has given to Venus, Snape immediately began tearing up.

{"𝗔𝘄𝘄𝘄𝘄𝘄 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝘃" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, "𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆," 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼-𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿. "𝗦𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗢𝗢 𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗘!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀, "𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆." 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, "𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗛, 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗘 𝗨𝗦, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦" 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗱}

***

A few days later it was time for the two teachers to escort the young girl for her first visit to the magical place known as Diagon Alley. The two apparated into the living room of number Four Privet Drive at eight am on the dot, fully prepared to take her on the trip that every magical eleven year old child looks forward to. {"𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝘇𝗼𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝘆, 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘀'' 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀, "𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗨𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗟𝗬𝗦𝗦!" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝗼-𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿 "𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔'' 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼-𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿} Since this was Venus's first real step into the world of magic they decided to Floo rather than apparate as it is easier on the body and has less risks. After formally greeting Petunia and Vernon - which took a while since Petunia and Snape started talking about Lily - Mcgonagall demonstrated to Venus how to properly use the Floo network.

"Simply grab a handful of Floo powder and step into the fireplace. Then throw the Floo powder down while calling out the name of the place you would like to go, like so," Mcgonagall called out as she followed the steps "The Leaky Cauldron" she spoke before disappearing into the green flames. Venus soon followed suit calling out the name of the pub most well known for hiding the entrance to the most well known Wizarding place in Great Britain, well aside from Hogwarts.

As they arrive into the dirty fireplace of The Leaky Cauldron, Minnie began instructing Venus on where to go next. "We must first head to Gringotts to sort out your accounts and withdraw funds for the day.". As they left the pub, Mcgongall produced a long stick from her pocket, which Venus soon recognised as a wand from the pictures she'd seen of her parents. Much to Venus's surprise however, when they were met with a plain brick wall Mcgonagall simply tapped her wand on it three times, once to the upper left, once to the lower right and one right in the centre. As she drew her wand back the bricks seemingly melted away revealing the mysterious Diagon Alley. The trio began walking up the main street of Diagon Alley, ignoring the stares they got from people at seeing the girl-who-lived, the head of Gryffindor and the head of Slytherin all walking up towards Gringotts.

{"𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲," 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 "𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗹𝗲𝗪𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗘" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝘀, "𝗢𝗿 𝗗𝘂𝗺𝗯-𝗮𝘀-𝗮-𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿, 𝗗𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗙𝘂𝗰𝗸, 𝘀𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝘀𝗵, 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵-", "𝗔𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝗵𝗲'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗺𝘆'𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁, 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵. 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, "𝗔𝗠𝗬, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬 𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗪𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡'𝗧 𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗞 𝗜𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗣𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝘆, "𝗜 𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗚𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗔 𝗙𝗨𝗖𝗞! 𝗗𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗪𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗣𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗟' 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗛!" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀, "𝗢𝗸𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆..."𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 "𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝗸 𝗶 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀 :( "}

{𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝘀'𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝘀, 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄.}

Venus' interests peaked as she saw the white bank at the end of the street, which in its diagonal state, reminded her of the leaning Tower of Pisa in a way, however the roof definitely gave her Saint Paul's vibes. As they entered the building Venus took note of the lack of humanoid workers and that every desk was occupied by a short creature."Gringotts is staffed entirely by goblins" Sevy intoned ,answering the question that undoubtedly flowed through Venus's mind. Walking through the foyer Venus noticed some words engraved on the floor, "Enter, stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed, For those who take, but do not earn, Must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our floors A treasure that was never yours, Thief, you have been warned, beware Of finding more than treasure there." The trio approached an empty desk and waited for the goblin to speak, "Has Miss Potter got her key?" spoke a voice that Venus did not expect to come from such a small creature. Before she could answer herself, Snape stepped in and answered for her "It is right here, but before we go to her vault I would like her to take an inheritance and background check just to make sure everything is in the clear, after all, she is in the sacred 28". "Yes I think it is best, follow me." Griphook motions them to follow him through a side door, which conveniently just finds them in front of another, this time with a golden plaque engraved with the name Inheritance and Background Testing room. Griphook motions for Venus to enter the room, but as Minnie and Sevy go to follow after her, Griphook blocks them, "The girl only," and with that he follows her inside, slammed the door, and left two stunned adults in his wake.

Venus entered the testing room and went and sat on the chair in front of the desk. Griphook took his place behind it and pulled out a piece of parchment. "Please place one drop of blood onto the paper so we can see your inheritance while we fetch your vault statements. Hesitantly, Venus pricked her finger on the sacred dagger produced and let the blood fall onto the paper. As soon as the blood had stopped fizzing Griphook snatched the paper from her {"𝘀𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸" 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝗸𝗲𝘀} and began decoding and writing out her results. Griphook's face paled as he read the sheet in front of him.

Griphook swiftly left the room ignoring Venus's cries and went to grab Severus. "Please come with me Mr Potter" Griphook asked, Snape realising what name Griphook had used immediately jumped up and began rushing after the small goblin. "What in Merlin's name was that?" Minnie thought only now remembering how Severus was James Potter's soulmate and loving husband. And that meant that Venus was- NO!

{"𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻 '𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿' (𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗦𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗲-𝗣𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿, *𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗸, 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗸*" 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗽}


	4. ᴘʀᴏʟᴏɢᴜᴇ ᴘᴀʀᴛ 2

{"𝗛𝗜 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗟𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗣 𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗨𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗘 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗜𝗡 𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗦, 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗙𝗧 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗨𝗦'' (𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘆 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁) 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 "𝗨𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗢 𝗠𝗨𝗖𝗛 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚! 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳"}

A faint "NOOoooo" could be heard from outside the chamber as Sevy made his way to where a confused Venus stood.Severus ignored the noise as he knew it was just Minnie remembering his lost lover and continued going to sit down next to Venus.

"As I was just about to tell young Miss Potter I have discovered some very interesting inheritances. For starters we have her as the heir Lady to the Noble house of Potter that she has gained from her biological father and the heir Lady to the Noble house of Prince from her other father. We also more surprisingly have discovered a few other ladyships, for starters she is now Lady of the Noble house Peverell and she is the last remaining Hufflepuff, meaning she is also Lady of the Ancient and Noble house of Hufflepuff. Then we go on to her heirships with her being the heir to both the Noble and Ancient house of Black and the heir to the house of Lupin. In terms of vaults that must be updated she now has full ownership of Vaults 00003 House of Hufflepuff and 00016 House of Peverell along with her own Vault 00387, when the current owners of Vaults 00095 House of Potter, 00054 House of Black, 00085 House of Prince and 00234 House of Lupin have passed those vaults shall pass on to her." Griphook paused from his monologue to give the two wizarding folk a chance to process what he had just said.

"So you're saying... That I am heir to one of the founders of Hogwarts....And that I am rich?" Queried Venus still in shock for finding out how much she had in Gringotts bank. "Oh the pranks I could pull." Venus whispers under her breath, anticipation for causing chaos overcoming her sense and sensibility.

Severus' eyes soften with sadness and a hint of sadness, 'She is so much like her father' he thinks to himself, as he remembers what James was like back in their school days. Severus could only hope that Venus' pranks wouldn't cause physical harm like some of James' would... Yes, he would have to talk to her about that later... But right now he just needed to be there for his daughter.

"Now that has been discussed I would like to go over her vault statements," Griphook interrupted Severus' thoughts, "I have here her statements from the past 11 years: 200 galleons a month to one Albus Dumbledore commencing 1st November 1981, 50 galleons a month to one Ronald Weasley commencing on 1st September 1991, 50 galleons a month to one Hermione Granger commencing on 1st September 1991, 25 galleons a month to one Ginerva Weasley commencing 1st September 1992 and finally 100 galleons a month to one Molly Weasley commencing 31st August 1991."

Severus' eyes hardened at the statement, and Venus just sat stiff as a board in her seat, face impassive as she just stared down at the parchment in disbelief, but sensing the rising tension and anger in the man next to her, she turned towards him.

"HOW DARE THAT OLD BAT STEAL FROM MY DAUGHTER LIKE THAT!" He yells, his magical aura echoed throughout the small conference room. Venus' eyes widened at the knowledge that this man was actually her father... Yes she had suspicions, but she didn't actually fully believe them... 

{"𝗬𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗘 𝗟𝗨𝗩 𝗔 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗩𝗬!" 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲}

A father... I have a father... Hang on. If I had a father, why was I placed with my Aunt and Uncle? One should believe that when a parent dies they continue to live with the other guardian unless it wasn't a safe environment... So why is she living with her Aunt, Uncle and cousin when I could be living with my father.Had someone refused to let her go to her father? Why would they do that!

Venus' thoughts fueled the firing hatred she had begun to develop for the Dumblewhore fellow, but as she continued to stare up at her father, she realised that it was her that needed to calm him down right now, as he looked like he was about to hex someone to the moon and back!

"Se-, Dad," Venus begins, which caused Severus to snap his head in her direction, part of him disbelieving the fact she had just called him Dad... It made his ice cold heart melt just that small bit... Merlin, the girl is going to be the death of him if she kept on acting like the way she is.

As he just continued to look down at his daughter, his anger seemed to simmer down until he was composed enough to tone down the magical projection he omitted. "Fine, well as I am Venus' legal father I would like to speak on behalf of her when I say to revoke all rights Albus Dumbledore has over her vaults and to revoke him as her Magical Guardian, for I shall take up that mantle."

To say that Venus was shocked would be a complete understatement, it seemed that time had frozen as she soaked in all of the information that her father had just unknowingly given her. Several minutes had passed before she came back into the realm of the present time, only brought out of her frozen thoughts due to Severus, who pulled her into a hug. In his arms she felt a wave of safety take over her, she just wanted to stay in his arms forever, but the moment was ruined by Griphook when he spoke up to usher the two outside of the room.

The sight they were met with was absolutely ridiculous the usually calm and composed Minerva Mcgonagall was crying! "O-oh I'm so happy for Severus, finally getting your daughter back," tears still spilled down her cheeks as she spoke, her tone soft and caring before it took a sharp tone, "and I cannot believe what Albus has done to the two of you, splitting up a family like that, maybe I need to rethink my view of him." She cleared her throat, her professional fasade slipping back into place. "Now you two, why don't we go get some funds for Venus and complete what we came here to do:, which is get her supplies for Hogwarts."

{"𝗛𝗢𝗚𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦, 𝗛𝗢𝗚𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦, 𝗛𝗢𝗚𝗚𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗛𝗢𝗚𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦, 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗨𝗦 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘, 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗘 𝗕𝗘 𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗗, 𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗕𝗕𝗬 𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗦, 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗗𝗢 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗙𝗙, 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬'𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗜𝗥, 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗟𝗨𝗙𝗙, 𝗦𝗢 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗨𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗘'𝗩𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗢𝗧, 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗧, 𝗪𝗘'𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡 𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗟 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗥𝗢𝗧!!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘆}

And with that our trio left Gringotts ready to explore Diagon Alley for the first time. Their fist stop? Olivander's.

{"𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆" 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱}

They walked along the bustling streets, Venus still soaking up all the bright and outlandish charm that the diagonal street seems to offer, until they stop outside of a weathered, old looking shop, with peeling letters that spelt 'Ollivander's Wand Emporium. Venus scrunched up her nose at the unusual smell protruding from the back shelves as they entered the shop.

"Ah, Lady Hufflepuff, I have been awaiting the time in which you would enter my store. It is an honour to serve you." Ollivander bowed dramatically, "I remember the days when your parents entered my shop, yes all 3 of them" he looks pointedly at Severus.

"Wait 3 parents?!" Venus exclaimed.

"Yes my dear, 3 parents, for you see since your father and I are both your fathers we are unable to physically produce a child together, so Lily Evans my best friend, volunteered to be a surrogate for us." Severus calmly explained, although Venus could see the way his eyes glossed over slightly with tears at the memories.

"And now, young Potter," continued Ollivander, breaking the bubble of memories that had encapsulated the father and daughter, "It is time for you too to receive your wand. Please step forward and stretch out your wand arm." he finished before bustling away into the maze of shelves behind him.

"My wand arm?" Venus said looking confusedly at the two adults behind her.

"The hand that you write with dear" Minnie answered kindly, a smile working its way onto her face.

"I think I know just the perfect wand for a customer as unusual as you, Lady Peverall" Olivander shouted from the depths of the maze. He suddenly appeared in front of her presenting her with a light brown and slightly curved towards the end "Vine wood, 12 inches, quite bendy and interestingly hippogriff feather," He paused slightly and resumed talking "This is also the same wand as I sold not so long ago, same length, same wood, and funnily enough the same core"

***

The day had finally arrived. The day when Venus Prongs Potter was to leave for Hogwarts.

{"𝗛𝗢𝗚𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦, 𝗛𝗢𝗚𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦, 𝗛𝗢𝗚-" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 "𝗡𝗢, 𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗪𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗬𝗦𝗦𝗔! 𝗦𝗛𝗨𝗧 𝗜𝗧" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿}

The day started out like an other in the Dursley household, Venus was awoken by her cousin throwing a pillow in her face under the excuse of "I tried to wake you up normally lil' V but you just weren't responding" which resulted in a pillow fight that soon had to be broken up by Vernon under the risk of them breaking something. Much like on the day they first met, breakfast was interrupted by a sharp ring of the doorbell.

In an instant both children were on their feet and sprinting for the door, this time however Dudley was the one to win as he wrenched open the door, faced with his uncle-in-law with a shocked yet smiling look on his face. "Hello there Dudley, it is so nice to see you again-" Severus started

"Well hello there Sevy, how may I be of service to you oh mighty wizard?" Dudley proclaimed, fake bowing to him. Just as he straightened up, Venus reached the door and pulled Severus into a tight hug.

"I am here to escort Venus to Platform 9 and ¾"

A call of "WAIT! WAIT!" could be heard from the kitchen as Petunia ran forward to speak to Severus."Severus, I was wondering if it would be alright if me and Dudders-dearest accompanied you and Venus to the platform? Just so we can see her off. Sadly Vernon cannot join us as he has work to do."

"Of course you may join us. It would be a pleasure to have you. Oh and before we leave I have a small present for Venus." out of Sevy's billowing black cloak he produces a small ginger kitten.

"OH. MY. GAWD." Venus shouts {"𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘆'𝗮𝗹𝗹" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀}

"I shall name him Riddles" Venus declares, clearly over her shock by now, a big smile plastered on her face, her delight and gratitude towards her newfound father blatantly obvious to everyone in the room. They all sat in silence as Venus just stood there, rocking the small kitten in a caring manner, cooing at if it were a baby.

Soon enough, Severus decided that if they didn't leave anytime in the next couple of minutes, Venus would end up missing the train, and he made it very clear that he was not in the mood to apparate his daughter to Hogwarts, he also wanted her to have the thrilling journey towards the magical school where she could make some friends before school started.

After taking the cat out of her hands, he sternly tells her to grab her trunk so that they could get to the platform (the sooner, the better, in his opinion.)

Finally, they were off! {"𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝘁!" 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁, "𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿?" 𝗠𝗲𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 "𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗜 𝗱𝗼, 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸" 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱, "𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘀𝗼 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝗽 𝗻𝗼𝘄" 𝗠𝗲𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸}

Soon they reached the platform, Venus bubbling with excitement as they got through the special wall and onto the platform. Petunia and Dudley were staring around in wonder, at their first proper look into the wizarding world.

Severus guided them across the station, as to avoid as many students as possible for whenever one managed to recognise him, they would just wrinkle their noses in disgust. Severus made a mental note that for the sake of his daughter, he would at least attempt to be nicer to the other students. As he looked over his past actions, he did seem to realise he was slightly ruthless with his teaching methods...

Severus was pulled out of his thoughts by the nagging voice of Venus {"𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗡𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶, 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝘆?" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀}, Riddles in her hand, "Dad! I have to get on the train now, it looks like it's about to leave!" Venus' voice came out in a panicked yelp, and so, in her fast working manner, she hugged Severus, Petunia and Dudley before rushing onto the scarlet and gold steam engine. Just as she leapt onto the huge train she felt it begin to move under her feet as she began to look for somewhere to sit down. As she made her way down the body of the train passing many packed compartments before finally finding one with just two people in it.

{"𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗜𝗧, 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗗𝗜𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘!" 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁, "𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗚𝗘𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗬" 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸.}

The two people in the carriage turned around in sync {"𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗬 𝗕𝗬𝗘 𝗕𝗬𝗘 𝗕𝗬𝗘𝗘𝗘𝗘" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻} to reveal a set of identical, extremely ginger, twins. "Well" "Hello" "There", they spoke in tandem to each other.

Venus stood there for a second before remembering why she had opened the door in the first place. "Um please can I sit in here? I'm a first year and don't have any friends."

"Oh no" "of course" "you can" "sit" "with us" "we are" "first years" "too" they responded amicably, jumping up to help her bring in her stuff. "Who" "is" "this" "little" "troublemaker" they queried as Riddles began making himself at home on Fred's lap.

"Oh this is Riddle, he's my new pet cat. My dad got him for me today." Venus replied. "Oh my goodness, how could I be so rude, I forgot to introduce myself. It's lovely to meet you, My name is Venus Prongs Potter."

"Pleasure to" "make your" "acquaintance" "Lady Potter" "we are" "Fred and" "George" "and you are now our best friend" "How" "may we" "serve you today?"

Venus laughed at their ridiculous antics and flopped down on the opposite side of Fred, placing her legs on his lap before leaning back and opening her potions book she had brought along. "I didn't peg you for someone who would study during the holidays." Fred spoke up, which caused Venus to look up from her book to stare at the red-haired twin, a raised eyebrow on display, weaved in along with her skeptical expression. "I just don't want to be yelled at by Sevy and Minnie when I arrive in their classes for the first time, I would think that you would want to do that too, considering that we only have another 6 hours before arriving at the castles and classes begin..." Venus replies nonchalauntly.

Venus studied the twins' reactions to her statement, she knew from first glance that they were similar to her, while they didn't seem like the academic type, it was obvious that they were the pranking type and she was going to use that to her advantage. The twins looked between each other before going back to Venus, apprehensiveness oozing out into the atmosphere above, the emotions ever so clear upon their faces. "Here," Venus begins, handing each twin a book, Fred, Charms and George, Transfiguration.

The silence surprisingly lasted for about ten minutes before a rapping against the glass door captured their undivided attention. There, in front of them stood what to look like two second years, one boy and one girl. The girl was in green robes and so Venus made an educated guess that she was in Slytherin, while the boy was in yellow robes which reminded her of honey, and she took another guess at Hufflepuff?

"Hi, this is Melissa and I'm Cedric... We're in second year and were hoping to grab an empty compartment, but it looks like all else are full... Is it okay if we join you three, I mean we don't want to impose or anything, we would just really appreciate it if you would let us." Cedric stuttered out, a blush on his face, while the girl next to him just remained with a sassy stoic expression that adorned her young face.

"Ced, these are first years, I don't think that we are imposing or anything, I'm sure that they will be fine with us sitting in the compartment with them.... As long as they aren't prejudiced or anything that is." Mel growls out as she studies the trio, before walking inside and taking a seat next to Venus, Cedric who was still a bit shy shuffled in and sat next to George near the entrance to the small compartment.

"So who are all you ickle firsties?" Mel asked them sassily.

"I'm Venus, Venus Potter." Venus stated confidently.

At her statement all heads snapped towards her, "So you're the supposed celebrity are you? Don't expect me to bow down to you, oh so golden one. Oh and call me Mel, only Ceddy dearest and my parents call me Melissa" She replied with a teasing tone.

Venus broke out into a mischievous grin, "Oh, I am going to love having you as a friend, oh so serpentine green one." She replies, the familiar James Potter glint shining in her emerald green eyes.

***

A few hours later and the group of now firm friends were playing a game of exploding cards. Fred had won 6 games; George 8 games; Mel 7 games; Venus 5 and Cedric 2. "Alright guys, we'll have to stop here as we are only a minute or so away now." Cedric declared taking a stand as the train began slowing. It was interesting to see the confidence that Cedric emitted when he finally made his way out of his shell, and Venus could tell that in time to come, Cedric will come to be a very popular person, whether he likes it or not.

"C'mon," spoke Mel "I'll show you were to meet Hagrid who will take you up to the castle." All of the first years in the compartment started following her out while Cedric went to get a carriage for the two second years. As they walked towards Hagrid, Mel started smiling more, a big proper true smile. "You know, if I wasn't so sure you are going to be a Hufflepuff, I would say you'd make a fine Slytherin. Bye lil' Puff!" Mel waves goodbye as she runs off, pulling on Cedric's arm as she reached him and they climbed into the carriage together, after Mel had patted the air in front of it.

"Do you think they're going to be soulmates?" George asked Venus and Fred, "Yeah, my money is on those two being soulsies," Fred replies, "Soulsies??" Venus asked, "You know, a shorter name for soulmates, and with the way those two acted together it is a big chance that they are" he urges, trying to push some sense into her, "I can't wait to get my Soulmarks," George sighs in a wishful way.

"You know, while we are on the subject of nicknames, did you know that in Australia they call Muggles 'Muggos'?" Venus states nonchalantly, "Oh Merlin, that's genius!" Fred exclaims as they made their way to the boats, at the back of the bustling first year crowd. "MUGGOS! MUGGOS! MUGGOS!" George chants over and over, causing Venus to let out a small giggle, alongside with an eye roll.

The Great Hall looked truly magnificent, floating candles lighting up the massive room, the roof reflecting the sky from outside, the magic here was truly... Well, magical.

The first years all walk up in lines until they stop in front of a small wooden stool, a ragged brown leather hat sitting upon it. Minnie then comes forward with a long roll of parchment.

"Now, when I call your name you shall come and sit on the stool and be sorted into your respective houses by the sorting hat." Minnie proclaims to the whole Hall. This made Venus think, 'Is the hat truly 100% accurate with these sortings? I mean, what if you accidentally sort someone into the wrong house... Or god forbid someone bribing or begging the hat to put them in a specific house.'

She was so lost in her head that it wasn't until Fred's name was called out that she was finally pulled back into reality,

"Weasley, FRED!" Minnie shouts, and Fred walks up to the stool, sitting down and letting the hat sink down on his head.

It took him about a thirty seconds before the hat yelled,

"SLYTHERIN!"

The hall was struck into petrified silence for everyone knows that every Weasley to ever grace these halls always ended up in Gryffindor, not with the slimy, slippery snakes. Dumblewhore's face fell as George followed Fred into Slytherin after being sorted himself. The crowd was growing smaller as the names were being called out, and it was only until she was the last one, that Minnie finally called out her name,

"Potter, VENUS!"

Venus made her way to the chair, memories of what Mel had said about her being in Hufflepuff or Slytherin, she had read about hat stalls in Hogwarts: A History of Magic, was she going to have a hat stall. Many thoughts were swirling around as all eyes were on her, it seemed like eternity before she sat down upon the tiny stool. What was surprising was that the hat had barely touched her head before it yelled out,

"HUFFLEPUFF!"


	5. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ - 5 ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ

{"𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗩𝗘𝗘𝗘𝗘𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗦𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗧𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗥𝗥𝗥𝗥'' 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. "𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗭𝗬 𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘, 𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗚𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗠𝗔𝗦! 𝗪𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗣𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗭𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗔𝗬, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡, 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗭𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗦𝗦𝗦𝗦!!!" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲, "𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲," 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀, "𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝘆𝗶 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟮𝟲𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟴𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗽 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀, "𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗟𝗘𝗧'𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗔 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗨𝗦 𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗠𝗔𝗦 𝗘𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗭𝗢𝗢𝗠 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗡𝗘!" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 "𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲....𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗺𝘆'𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿, "𝗢𝗠𝗚 𝗜 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗢𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗩𝗘! 𝗢𝗸𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘀𝗼 𝗜 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿! 𝗛𝗢𝗣𝗘 𝗬𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗭𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥! 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲}

It was just another hot Wednesday morning as the gang who had come to call themselves The Wonderland Wizards™, were all outside playing Quiddich on the erected field that Mel's family had built just after her first year. The teams were, Fred and Venus against George and Mel, unfortunately Cedric wasn't able to be there due to his Father wanting his help with preparing for the QWC. For once George and Mel caught Fred and Venus off guard when they crushed their friends and celebrated by circling the pitch a few times. "Alright, alright you win" sighed Fred "How about this time we swap the teams around a bit, Weasleys vs the losing team?" At Fred's deceleration, Venus pushed him over and into the mud that was still wet from the grass being washed{"𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 '𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀' 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼." 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘀} watered earlier that day.

"Sounds good to me, ready to trash these boys Love?" Venus cried as she shot up into the air.

"Why of course I am Honeybun, let's show these children how you really play quidditch!" Mel agreed, soaring up next to her, "Hit us with your best shot boys"

{"𝗛𝗶𝗧 𝗠𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗧𝗵 𝘆𝗢𝘂𝗥 𝗕𝗲𝗦𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗢𝘁!" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱, "𝗙𝗶𝗥𝗲 𝗔𝘄𝗔𝘆, 𝗙𝗶𝗥𝗲 𝗔𝘄𝗔𝘆!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝗱. "𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗯" 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝘂𝘀}

Laughing, before two twin grims looks set themselves on the boys' faces. "Whisp mate, I think we have two cocky opponents, don't you?" Feddie called out as he took his place opposite Venus.

George's eyes twinkled as he responded "I'd have to agree there Pads, and I think they need putting in their places." His broom also rose steadily as he aligned himself with a smirking Mel.

***

{"𝘄𝗲𝗿;𝗹𝗵𝗳𝗱𝘀𝗮𝗔𝗦𝗗𝗙𝗟;;𝗢𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗦𝗨𝗜𝗢𝗣[𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗨𝗬𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗗𝗙𝗞𝗟𝗞𝗝𝗛𝗚𝗙𝗗𝗦𝗔𝗮𝘀𝗱𝗳𝗴𝗵𝗴𝗳𝗿𝘁𝘆𝗵𝗯 𝗰𝗱𝗳𝗴𝗵𝗷𝗸𝗹.,𝗺𝗻𝗯𝘃𝗰𝘅𝘇𝗮𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆𝘂𝗶𝗸𝗺𝗻𝗯𝘃𝗰𝘅𝗱𝗳𝗿𝘁𝘆𝘂𝗶𝗼𝗹,𝗺𝗻𝗯𝘃𝗵𝗷𝘃𝗴𝗳𝗴𝘂𝗵𝗼𝗶𝟯𝗹𝗻𝗷𝗯𝗸𝟮.𝟰𝘃𝗳;𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗼𝗵;𝗸𝘄𝗻𝗾𝗯 𝗻𝗯𝘄/𝗹𝘃𝗳𝟭 " 𝘇𝗿𝗰 𝗿𝗷𝟮𝘂𝗻' 𝟱𝘃𝗵𝟭𝗰𝗵𝗽𝗷𝗴𝗼 𝟯𝗵𝟰𝘆𝗳𝗻𝗷 𝗖𝘃𝗵𝗰𝗷𝘃𝗖𝗹𝘁𝗹𝗧𝗝𝗘𝗛𝗱𝗴𝗳𝘇/∫≈ ≤µç" 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝘆, "𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲." 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗱}

The day had come for the gang to head off for the Quidditch World Cup, and it was a bloody shame that Cedric wasn't there to see the unruly morning events unfold. The previous night after another jam packed full day of crafting and nit-picking new original pranking inventions and never-ending Quidditch matches, it was no surprise that they collapsed in a dead heap, Venus' face in Mel's bust like usual, while Mel had her arms wrapped around Venus in a protective manner, as they all flopped onto her bed for the night, and to make matters worse, Fred halfway through the night began to eat Venus' {𝗮𝘀𝘀} hair... {"𝗝𝗘𝗦𝗨𝗦 𝗔𝗠𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗠 𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀, "𝗢𝗛 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗𝗡'𝗧 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗚𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬!" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 "𝗡𝗢 𝗜 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗𝗡'𝗧, 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗛𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱} Lets just say that it was an interesting evening and leave it at that. 

The next morning Mel awoke with a start as she remembered what day it was and what was happening and started to sit up, which as she was on the bottom of the pile had some quite drastic results. 𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗞 Fred's body fell to the floor as he woke up, Venus' head fell down Mel's chest and George - who had begun cuddling Mel in his sleep - found himself with his head buried in the crook of her neck. "George," Mel started, "If you don't get your head out of my neck in the next 0.5 seconds I will hit you over the head with a pillow." "But I'm comfyyyyyy." George complained, Mel just ignored him and threw him to the hard floor next to his twin.

Mel then looked down at the sleeping girl on her chest, her eyes filled with fondness and adoration, began to shake her gently, making sure she didn't startle her.{"𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝘀, 𝗝𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲, 𝗸-𝗶-𝘀-𝘀-𝗶-𝗻-𝗴," 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀, "𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗔𝗚𝗢 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘?! 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞!" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀, "𝗦𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝘂𝘆𝘀, 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱... 𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀} "Come on honeybun, it's time to wake up, we need to get changed so we can get going." Mel whispers as she kisses the younger girl on the forehead.

"Mmpphh" Venus murmurs as she tries to cuddle back in, but Mel just picks her head up and lays her back down then goes and opens the curtains, stepping over the twins who had already fallen back to sleep on the floor. As she opens the curtains the twins let out sharp hisses of dislike as the morning sun penetrates their eyes.

"Jesus Christ Mel, why are you doing this to us? It's like 5 in the morning" Fred moaned as he began standing up, pulling his brother up behind him.

"Did you two dunderheads really forget about the Quidditch World Cup? Or the fact that you are finally seeing your brothers again after over 2 years? Or the fact that we are seeing the last member of the Wonderland Wizards for the first time this hols?" Mel questioned as she walked towards the bathroom with her clothes in her hand, "You boys can change in the room opposite, and no peeking you pervs!" And with that the day of madness had officially begun.

***

Since Mel was over the age of 17 and both her parents were going they were lucky enough to apparate down to the stadium. Mel grabbed Venus' hand as her parents took each of the twins and suddenly they appeared in the woods by the field of tents-for those staying overnight at the Cup rather than apparating back late at night like they were. Mr and Mrs Winters let the children run off to meet their friends, as the family had bought seats in the same place as the Weasley family so they would not have to worry about finding them, and they knew from previous years that Mel would always keep a close eye on Venus and stop her from getting hurt.

The group immediately headed over to where they knew Cedric's tent would be so the group could be reunited after a long summer of separation. As they headed towards his tent, they saw standing alongside him a familiar head of brown frizzy hair. "Guys!" Ced shouted as they approached, "It's so good to see you all again. The Wonderland Wizards are back together again." Hermione nudged him as she hugged closer into his side, slightly intimidated by the two girls snuggling opposite her as she knew how close they and Ceddy were. "Ow! Merlin woman!" He pauses rubbing his side for a second before continuing, "Anyways, guys this is Hermione, my soulmate." The others just stared before Venus broke out into a huge grin, "Hand it over boys!" She yelled, holding out her hand as Fred and George gave her a galleon each.

Mel and Cedric watched the scene fold out in confusion while Hermione snickers, knowing what the other two did not. "You didn't V!" Hermione exclaims, "Oh yes I did Mione'" Venus replied smugly, "They betted that Mel would be Cedric's soulmate, while I rooted for someone in Gryffindor, our year as I was certain 100% they were not mated after a couple of years of knowing them."

While Hermione and Venus were catching up, Cedric was busy death glaring the twins while Mel had on a sickly sweet smile and was slowly drawing her wand. The twins seeing this slowly began backing away before turning and running in the direction of their tent. Mel and Cedric started chasing after them, while the other two laughed before following after them.

Just as Fred and George reached the 'sanctuary' of their family's tent, the beloved Father and older brothers in sight began glaring at their younger siblings and Mother, Mel and Ced launched their attack - Mel leapt onto George's back and Cedric tackled Fred to the ground and tickled the two perpetrators. All of them were laughing however as they stood, Cedric helping Fred get himself up. Then it happened. Melissa Winters, Moontail, met her soulmate. As she shook her head from George ruffling her hair she made eye contact with the one, Charles, Charlie, Weasley.

"Mate" Charlie whispered, awestruck as he got the first look at his other half. She had long blonde curls, beautiful teal eyes that he just knew he would get lost in and cute, dotted freckles that adorned the cheeks he so soon adored.

While Charlie was taking in all he could about his soulmate, Mel was doing the same, her eyes were met with long curly red hair - a shade or two darker than her twins - ; piercing chocolatey eyes that reminded her of her grandmother's baking. He was tall, much taller than she at about 6'3" and the dopey smile he was giving her made her heart burst.

"OH FUCK NO!" Yelled George, "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE CHARLIE OF ALL PEOPLE! OUR BROTHER! WE LOST TWO GALLEONS OVER OUR OWN BROTHER!" Fred shook his head in mock disgust at the once cold and sarcastic Mel made heart eyes at his brother. Despite this both twins were happy that one of their best friend's soulmates was someone they know and trust. To the side Venus was looking on with the green eyed monster as her friend while she looked on at her favourite person falling in love with someone she had just met.

Mel, Cedric and the twins were so focused upon their small argument over money that they failed to notice the piercing death glares they were all receiving from some of the other Weasley's, and it was only when Molly Weasley's voice boomed out, that they actually paid the others any attention.

"IT WAS ALREADY BAD ENOUGH THAT THOSE TWO FILTH ENDED UP AMONGST THE SLIMY SNAKES! I WILL NOT LET ANOTHER ONE JUST SLYTHER IN {"𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱? 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮, 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗹𝗺𝗮𝗼!" 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 "𝗬𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗺𝘆, 𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲, 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗺𝘆'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿} AND DEFILE ANOTHER ONE OF MY CHILDREN!"

Before anyone could say or do anything, Venus was up and in front of Molly, wand drawn, a dangerous, predatory like stare mocking her face, "HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT MY FAVOURITE PEOPLE ON THIS EARTH LIKE THAT YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU CALL YOURSELF A MOTHER, AND YET YOU VERBALLY ABUSE YOUR CHILDREN! PARENTS SHOULD LOVE AND CARE FOR THEIR CHILDREN, SUPPORT THEM NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE, WHO THEIR SOULMATES ARE OR WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM! MOTHER'S DON'T ABANDON THEIR CHILDREN AND HAVE HISSY FITS JUST BECAUSE THEY GOT SORTED INTO A DIFFERENT HOUSE THAN YOU WANTED! MOTHER'S DON'T BELITTLE THEIR CHILDREN INTO FEELING INSIGNIFICANT AND WORTHLESS! YOU CLAIM TO BE A MOTHER AND TO LOVE AND CARE FOR YOUR CHILDREN, BUT ALL I CAN SEE IS HATE! I MEAN WHY ELSE WOULD FOUR OUT OF YOUR FIVE OLDEST SONS MOVE AWAY FROM YOU! CHARLIE MOVED TO ROMANIA, BILL MOVED TO EGYPT, FRED AND GEORGE BASICALLY LIVE AT EITHER MINE OR MEL'S PLACE, EVEN PERCY GOT A JOB THAT TOOK AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE! SO GO FIND A STINKING DITCH TO FUCK YOURSELF IN!"

Everyone was shocked at Venus' outburst, never before had they seen their little Hufflepuff act like this before. Yes they knew she was protective over them, but never did they think to this degree... The silence didn't last however, for Molly's voice soon filled the clearing once more,

"HOW DARE YOU LECTURE ME ON HOW TO PARENT MY CHILDREN! THEY CALL YOU THE SAVIOUR OF THE WIZARDING WORLD, BUT ALL I SEE IS A SPOILT! LITTLE! BRAT! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF! A POTTER A HUFFLEPUFF! JAMES AND LILY WOULD BE ROLLING IN THEIR GRAVES! OH HOW YOU BELITTLE THE NAME OF THE NOBLE HOUSE OF POTTER! IF YOU KEEP UP THIS ATTITUDE YOUNG MISSY, THEN THE POTTER HOUSE WILL BECOME NOT SO NOBLE, I WILL MAKE SURE TO SEE THAT! I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT A HUFFLEPUFF LIKE YOU IS MEANT TO SAVE ANYONE, I MEAN HAVE YOU SEEN YOURSELF? YOU KNOW WHO SHOULD HAVE JUST KILLED YOU OFF WHEN YOU WERE A BABY! YOUR DEATH WOULD BE CLEANSING THE WORLD FROM IT'S FILTH!"

At this point of Molly's rant, tears began to form in the corners of Venus' eyes, before she ran off. Venus knew that it was a cowardly thing, but she just couldn't stand being in front of that awful family any longer. Yes, Venus was happy for Mel, with Charlie as her mate, from what Fred and George had told her, he seemed like a really stand up guy...And she loved Fred and George, she would never judge them for what their rat of a mother said. For someone who defended those she loved just minutes ago so fiercely, she felt the verbal attack much stronger and was struck to her core by what Molly had said.

{"𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸! 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘆𝘀." 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳}

As Mel processes what Molly has said her face became overcome with a look of utter evil. She wanted nothing more in that moment to hurt the witch who dared hurt her honeybun. But she was more worried about how Venus was feeling and where she had run off to. So, with one final death glare towards the Weasley matriarch, Mel left after Venus, following the route she hoped she had taken. After some searching, she found her in the Diggory's tent curled up on the bed which they knew to be Cedric's. Her heart broke seeing the young girl sob and shake slightly in the fetal position. She slowly made her way over to Venus, taking care not to startle her and brought the girl into a tight hug. She steadily began to rock from side to side, murmuring sweet nothings into her love's ear about how she was going to curse Molly into the next century and that nothing she had said was true, that she was loved.

MEANWHILE

As Mel took off, Charlie had a hurt look on his face at his mum's words towards his newfound soulmate. "How could you say those things mum, have you ever spoken to her? The first time I meet my soulmate, who I've heard nothing but good about, and MY OWN mother, MY OWN flesh and blood verbally attacks her. Venus was right, you are a fucking rubbish mother and a fucking rubbish member of the so-called Light." And with that he stormed back into the tent with Bill following him as they were the closest.

Hermione cut in "Mrs Weasley, you once had my respect as a loving and caring person, but now I see that you are the complete opposite of that, house prejudiced, immature and uncaring towards your children. That respect and trust has now been lost and I can see you are nothing but a self righteous shrew of a woman"

With a poisonous sneer Molly retorts in the only way she knows how "Like anyone cares what you think, filthy little mudblood!" {"𝗖𝗼𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲?" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲}

With one short word the usually calm Cedric Diggory turned feral. "HOW DARE YOU USE THAT DEROGATORY WORD TOWARDS HER! THAT'S MY SOULMATE YOU BITCH! WHY SHOULDN'T I HEX YOU INTO THE GROUND WHERE YOU STAND?! But I won't. I wouldn't do that to a family. Instead I will do this" and with that Cedric shot a perfect jelly legs jinx at her causing her to fall face first into a puddle.

"You call yourself our mother? Please you are nothing more to us than a donor. You don't matter to us. Before we even got sorted into Slytherin there seemed to be this divide. Why was it? Was it because we weren't the oldest like Bill? Didn't have an interesting job like Charlie? Didn't work for the ministry to make pots of money like Percy? We weren't the youngest boy like Ronald? Or the only girl like Ginny? Was it because we were cheekier? Or that we were twins instead of one child? OR MAYBE IT WAS THAT WE WERE UNWANTED BECAUSE OUR WHORE OF A MOTHER USED MULTIPLE LOVE AND FERTILITY POTIONS ON OUR FATHER?!" Fred burst all of a sudden. George stood mutely by his side, too angry to say anything that wasn't a hex or jinx.

"Why did you exclude us mum?" He suddenly spoke, "or should I just say birth-giver, since you haven't been very motherly to us?"

With that silence fell upon the group of red-heads and brunettes. "C'mon guys," Hermione said, "Venus needs us, we don't need to waste anymore time on this witch." And with that they left.

***

Finally it was time for the game to begin. The gang had managed to calm Venus down and get her presentable to the public and press, knowing they would present. They began trooping up the stairs to the top box, leaving Hermione and Cedric halfway to sit with the Diggory's. Well by the time they got to the top the girls had convinced the twins to carry them up the rest of the way. Thankfully for the boys both girls were on the lighter side so they didn't overbalance and fall back the way they came. When they reached the top box, many reactions were had: first was the reaction to the Malfoys, where Draco was waving at the group with a smile on his face which they happily returned; then there were the rest of the Weasley's who were mainly met with harsh glares except for Bill, Charlie and Arthur. Charlie particularly was met with a smile from his soulmate.

The match went well, Ireland winning but Victor Krum getting the snitch. This was particularly good for the twins as they had bet on this exact outcome. The remaining pent up rage from being pawned and manipulated by Ludo Bagman himself, was useful as Mel managed to convince him to give the twins what was rightfully theirs.

***

"𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗦𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗥𝗘!"

Venus heard a man yell as she, Hermione and Cedric ran through the woods looking for their Slytherbuddies and trying to escape the havoc caused by the group of death eaters. Unable to find Mel or the twins they began to get worried, with all of the chaos happening they just wanted to make sure their other friends were safe. Venus considered shifting into her Animagi form alongside Cedric before she remembered that Hermione was still here with them, and her being unable to shift, and, with her being a muggleborn... The idea was off of the table as soon as it was dealt on. They decided it was best to try and find somewhere to hide till it all passed over.

It was right then that cracking noises surrounded the trio, too quick to hear Hemione yell out, "DUCK!" in an attempt to protect the trio from harm despite only one of them being allowed to perform legal magic if the case came for them to defend themselves from attack.

It was obvious she was trying to get Venus and Cedric to follow her lead and duck to avoid the incoming apparaters, but the two didn't hear her, "STUPIFY!" Multiple voices filled the clearing, all firing spells at them? Who would attack kids unless... Cedric moved in front of Hermione slightly in an effort to protect his soulmate.

The three kids froze. But on a second call of "STUPIFY!" They put their heads to the ground and prayed that it was the ministry not death eaters. They kneeled in petrified silence for a few moments before they heard footsteps coming towards them. Thankfully this was not the day they would pass on, as instead of being met with a blank skull-like mask they were greeted with the cheerful red face of Arther Weasley, better known as the twins father.

A few minutes later after a thorough interrogation, the minister eventually allowed them to leave, so they immediately headed towards the Diggory's tent where Venus had agreed to meet should anything go wrong. As soon as she stepped through the tent she was enveloped in hugs from the boys and smothered in kisses from Mel. As soon as they were reassured that they were all fine the Winters apparated them back to the mansion for the last week of summer where Cedric would be joining them and Mel didn't let Venus out of her sight for a good day or so, for "the stress she went through after thinking she lost her".

***

The train ride this year was to be an emotional one. This was the last journey to Hogwarts Mel and Cedric would make on the scarlet train. As they reached the station both 7th years had tears in their eyes. They got on the train as quickly as possible in their favourite compartment, with the twins and cedric sprawled on one side and Venus sprawled over top of Mel on the other. That of course meant it had to be spent with lots of celebratory sweets and butter beer - and a possible swig of fire whiskey (which they had managed to smuggle onto the train via undetectable extension charm on Venus' backpack.) {"𝗡𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘆, 𝗻𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘆, 𝗻𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘆, 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀!" 𝗣𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝗺𝘂𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗻, "𝗦𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝗽 𝗣𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀... 𝗜 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀? 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗼𝗴𝘄𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀." 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿} - and many games (one of which resulted in Mel and Venus being pushed into a compartment together for 10 minutes). Unfortunately the train ride, like all good things, soon came to an end. They made their annual trip to the carriages where they joined one alongside Hermione, Neville and Luna, it was always interesting for the twins and Cedric to watch as Mel and Venus pet the invisible animals named Thestrals together.

Normally Luna would pet them too, but at the moment she was too busy showing off her cork necklace to George to do so before the Thestrals began to deliver them to the magical castle. They made sure to make the most of their last carriage ride on the way up the steeping hill and so made sure to fill the ride with laughter and long lasting memories.

It was as if time was skipping for how did they get from the carriages to their respective tables inside of the Great Hall? It was only when the hat roared the house next, when Venus realised that the sorting was over,

"HUFFLEPUFF!"


	6. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ - ᴍᴀᴛᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴏᴜʟᴍᴀᴛᴇꜱ?

Now that the feasting was over, Dumblewhore just had to make his yearly speech, "I must ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices, Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty seven items, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, for those who would like to check it. I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. And it is also my l duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup is cancelled this year. This is due to an event that will be starting in November, and continuing throughout the school year. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts we are to have the honor of hosting the Triwizard Tournament."

The Great Hall erupted with excited cheers of joy while others cried out in horror, obviously knowing how risky this could be. "Where was I?" Dumblewhore resumed, "Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament ...well, the Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be an excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities — that was until the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued." Dumblewhore continued,

"However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in November, and will remain here till the end of term, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money. Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said,

"The heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age — that is to say, seventeen years or older — will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!" Dumblewhore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody.

{"𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲! 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵?" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱}

***

The Wonderland Wizards fought through the crowd to each other and met outside the Great Hall before heading down to the Slytherin common room to discuss that night's events. {"𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝟯 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝘅 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝘆𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀." 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱}

Fred and George basically tackled their way over to Venus and Cedric and pulled them over to two sofas in the middle of the room where Mel was waiting for them. Mel immediately pulled Venus over to her as they took up their usual position curled up together on the first sofa. Once they and the other Slytherin's had settled themselves in a circle Fred spoke up, "So, who's up for a lovely game of truth or dare!" The students cheered in agreement, and that's what led to the events of Theodore Nott's turn to spin the bottle.

The moment the bottle began to spin, Venus' heart sped up in excitement, however her heart was in her throat when the bottle stopped on her, "Vee, truth or dare?" Not wanting to be a pussy, she went with, "Dare."

Venus however came to the conclusion after the words had left her mouth, that it was possibly the wrong choice to make as a smirk made its way onto Theo's face. With a glint in his eye, he declared "I dare you, Venus Potter, to makeout with Melissa Winters in front of everyone," he more than expected Venus to try and convince him to pick something else. Instead she simply stood up and pulled the older girl up with her.

Their lips connected with fiery passion, both determined to put on a show that none of them would ever forget. As Venus and Mel battled for dominance, everyone else looked on shell shocked... And slightly aroused??? It was as if Venus and Mel were in their own world, no one else there, just them and their bodies rubbing up against each other, Mel groaned into Venus' mouth as she tasted the inside of her best friend's mouth. Mel and Venus had been doing this for years, and yet they just couldn't get enough of each other. Mel getting more confident wrapped one of her arms around Venus' lower back, just above her arse, and pushed her further into her, causing the two of them just to up the ante that much more. Venus' hands moved up into Mel's blonde curls as she ferociously pushed her lips to her one last time, a groan slipping from both of them before they pulled apart.

{"𝗢𝗼𝗵 𝗹𝗮 𝗹𝗮'' 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿, "𝗬𝗘𝗦! 𝗜 𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗜𝗧! 𝗜 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗨𝗦! 𝗜 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗨𝗦!" 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻.}

As they pulled apart, they noticed a few of the students had left (mainly boys but a few of the girls as well) and the rest were watching with red faces. Fred and George looked a little angry and shocked, while Cedric looked completely unphased as if he had seen it all before. "Ok so whose turn is it now?" Mel asked as if she hadn't just snogged the living daylights out of her best friend.

"Alright people," George yelled, "Venus completed her dare now for the next person. Let's get back to the game." He then tugged a smirking Mel and a blushing Venus out of the room towards the dorms so they could have a private discussion.

"Okay, so why were you two kissing each other like that? It looked to me like more than just a spur of the moment dare. And how long has this been going on? I have so many fucking questions right now and one of you should start answering soon," George ranted.

Mel growled slightly as she pushed the blushing Venus behind her in a protective manner, before meeting George's eye. "Just because you are one of our closest friends DOES NOT mean we have to tell you all our little secrets. Also, did you not figure it out? Or did Ceddy boy actually keep his promise? Did you not notice the fact that me and my honey bun shared a bed all summer? But I guess as you asked we'll tell you. Me and Venus have been dating since, when did we start dating honey?" Mel turns to the now no longer blushing Venus.

"I think we started dating, your fourth year and my third year love. At least that's when we made it official between us two." Venus answered, leaning her head on Mel's shoulder and putting her face in her neck.

"Oh yes it was, because it was your fourth year and my fifth year when Cedric caught us and we had to swear him to secrecy" Mel laughed as she reminisced as she leaned into Venus' arms.

"B-but what about Charlie?? Even if you were dating before meeting him you are still together with Potter now? Do you not care about him?" George stuttered as he tried not to hurt one of them in his rage.

"OH SHUT IT WEASLEY AND JUST LISTEN FOR TWO FUCKING MINUTES" Mel yelled as she lost her patience with the ginger in front of her. "Did you really think I wouldn't discuss my mate with my soulmate? Are you so utterly dense that you don't remember how mates work? For fucks sake George, the day I met Charlie, Venus and I pulled him aside and told him what was up and talked about how this was going to work. And if you didn't notice my soulmate isn't here right now and Venus hasn't found hers, so of course I'm going to fucking snog my mate why can't I? Please explain to me George why I am not allowed to kiss my mate?!" And with that, Mel stormed off with Venus.

Venus looked back as she was dragged away, a small sympathetic smile drawn across her face as she followed her girlfriend out of the common room, ignoring the stares of the Slytherins at the sight of their conjoined hands as they left towards the dueling room.

"What do we do now love? News is sure to spread after this fiasco." Venus consoles her mate, "After all, I am the chosen one, a hufflepuff, and you are a Winters, who are all known for being in Slytherin."

"Don't worry about it darling, I'm sure it will all be fine, and if anyone tries to say anything I'll hex them for you." Mel murmured as they headed off to 6th and 7th year dueling.

***

The room was spacious, the flooring having a charm as to so, if in the case one goes flying, they will land safely. Most of the students were already there, talking amongst themselves as they waited for the professor to join them, however all heads turned and whispers sprouted at the sight of Venus and Mel holding each other's hands. Some were disgusted and some were excited. Hermione and Cedric amongst the excited and proud walked up to the couple.

"So, you finally decided to get your heads out of your asses and publicly show your relationship then! That's awesome! I was just talking to Ced about you guys and how Charlie reacted so calmly to the news... I honestly still to this day, don't fully understand as to how calm you guys explained him to be... For some wizards, their soulmates just cannot understand the bond between Mates, even though they might have been dating for a while before meeting them... Some just force them to break up immediately, but I am so glad that Charlie was not one of them." Hermione exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm happy for you guys... Don't get me wrong, I am still kind of scarred from walking in on the both of you, but I'm happy for you both, honestly I am." Cedric said as they walked towards their usual spot in the room - in the far right corner. Just as he finished speaking, the teacher for the club, the DADA teacher, Alaster, Mad-Eye, Moody.

" YOU MIGHT BE THE TOP OF THE SCHOOL OUTSIDE OF THIS ROOM BUT I HERE, I CALL THE SHOTS" Moody yelled out as he took position in the middle of the room, " AS THE TOURNAMENT SOON APPROACHES I WILL BE EXPECTING YOU TO USE HARSHER SPELLS IN PREPARATION! DUELING IS AN ART FORM AND IS A LOT HARDER THAN MOST THINK! IT'S NOT ABOUT FLIMSY WAND WAVING, OUTSIDE OF THESE WALLS, DUELING CAN BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH! ANYONE CAN PICK UP A WAND AND CAST A SPELL AGAINST ANOTHER, THEY MAY CALL THAT A DUEL IF THE OTHER FIGHTS BACK, BUT IN A PROPER DUEL YOU HAVE TO HAVE CONSTANT VIGILANCE AND EYES ALWAYS ON THE OTHER, YOU HAVE TO BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS, YOU HAVE TO BE PHYSICALLY FIT AND YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO FIGHT OFF SPELLS." He boomed out, installing fear into some of the students, Moody noticing this noted that these are most likely the students that will fail. "Now, everyone, who thinks they are good enough to beat me? No one? Guess I'll just have to pick one of you measly students." His eyes scanned the room, everyone's breath hitched as they prayed for it not to be them, after all Moody is the best Auror that the Ministry had seen in a good long while, and dueling against him wouldn't be easy.

Venus got a funny feeling in her stomach as Moody's eyes scanned over her for a quick second before looking over the room one last time. "POTTER!" He yelled out into the still room, Venus knew she should be scared, but for some reason, as her name was called she got a certain boost of confidence and need to prove herself, she goes to move forward when Mel holds her back,

"Not Venus, sir, please, she could get hurt!" She cried out, scared for her girlfriend, "If you want I'll fight you instead?"

Venus could see that Moody was about to boom out another lecture about dueling so instead she touched her girlfriend's arm and soothed her worries, "It's fine Moons, I'll be fine, after all I have been practicing, I am the best in the class and you know it, Melin knows i'm long overdue for a challenge." With that, she removes herself from Mel's grasp and walks over to face Moody. As she walked in line with him, she took up the classic dueling stance she had grown to get comfortable in.

"NO ONE IS LEAVING THIS ROOM UNTIL POTTER CAN GET A SINGLE HIT ON ME!"

As soon as the words had left his mouth, he cast a stinging jinx at Venus which she quickly deflected with a cry of "PROTEGO" before she cast the bat-bogey hex at him. He deflected it without a second thought. A green light shot from his wand with a silent leg-locker curse aimed at Venus which she struggled to deflect in time, causing her to stumble as she shouted "Furnunculus!" This caused a small spot to appear on Moody's face, indicating she had in fact gotten a hit on him. Her concentration slipped as she mentally celebrated her win, leaving her open to attack.

"Expelliarmus" spoke Moody, seemingly unbothered by the battle which had just commenced, "That was a good try Miss Potter, excellent verbal casting, you should soon be able to cast some non-verbal spells. A word of advice though, remember to never take your eyes off of your opponent till you are sure they have been defeated. CLASS DISMISSED!" Moody continued.

And with that, they left the padded room and towards their next lessons. Mel and Cedric wandered off to care of magical creatures together after kissing their respective partners and Hermione and Venus left down to the dungeons for potions with Sevy.

***

As they made their way down to the dungeons Mione' and Venus discussed her and Mel's relationship more in depth so as to see where they would go from here, now that everyone knew about them, the Daily Prophet would have a field day and both girls knew that the Weasley's and all of the Wonderland Wizards would be roped into interviews about the whole thing, they had been so invested in the conversation that they almost walked past the classroom, which would have probably earned themselves both detention even though Severus is her father, after all, no bias on students.

Before they walked into the 6th years potions lab, meeting up with Fred and George. Almost as soon as they had taken their seats, did Severus walk in. "Quiet down you lot," He spoke as he took his place at the front of the classroom, " today we will be covering one of the most influential potions one can make at your level, Amortentia or the love potion. Although it should be more aptly named the 'Fake love' potion since it does not cause true love, like that between soulmates and mates, it instead causes a sort of infatuation. One of the side effects we will investigate before you attempt to brew it is the smell. The smell of amortentia is that of who you are in love with, be that of your soulmate, mate or of home. For example to me it smells like," Severus leans over the swirling cauldron in front of him. "broom wax, smoke, gingerbread and petrichor. Now if you could all come line up we will find out what you all smell" The class was in uproar as everyone rushed to be first. The remnants of the WW and Hermione found themselves in the middle of the line. A few minutes passed and it was Hermione's turn.

With a bush she leant forward and took a deep sniff, "It smells like leather, Cedric's cologne, freshly baked bread and the sea." she smiled as she thought about her soulmate.

Next was Fred "Hmmmm home cooking, books and gunpowder" His smile grew as he said the last one, a twinkle in his eyes.

Then Venus, "I smell...some weird cologne that I don't recognise but it smells expensive, lemon, blood?!?, The slytherin common room, Mel's vanilla conditioner, freshly baked biscuits and something else I can't quite figure out.....fire?"

Lastly, was George. "Oh god there are so many scents....I smell soil, the lake, greenery, books, chocolate, the forest, and paper?" his face scrunched up as he tried to decipher the different smells, suddenly a thought struck him cold, "Does this mean that I have more than one soulmate?" He asked the others as they began leaving the classroom and heading outside to their tree.

"Well... In an essence, yes... But don't forget that I too have multiple scents, already knowing that some of them are already Mel's, that means that the other's must be my soulmate, and George don't forget that it's not unordinary to have more than one, don't you remember what Minnie explained to us?" Venus asked the ginger, sighing as he shook his head.

"Okay fine, I will explain it to you again, there are things called mates and soulmates, soulmates are the same as they are in most things, most people are born with them, witches, wizards and other magical creatures end up finding their mates and soulmates faster than muggles do, due to the lack of magic they hold, however sometimes they can tell whom it is based on instinct. When you reach 17 you will start being able to find your soulmate. When you meet for the first time (after each person turns 17) a beautiful mark will appear on the skin called a soulmark. People usually have between 1-3 soulmates but can have more. Mates are slightly different as we can see with the example of me and Mel. Think of mates as, instead of couples who marry romantically, your closest best friend ever with benefits. You will not necessarily know you are mates with someone when you first meet. With the example of me and Mel, we were best friends for about 3 years before we realised we were mates and that was when they started dating."

Mel suddenly jumped in as they had reached the tree by this point "You can figure out who your mates are in a shorter amount of time but Venus is an oblivious little bean so she didn't figure it out for a while." she finished, kissing Venus on the cheek as she pulled her down next to her.

"So I can have more than one soulmate?" George said, still not having processed what Venus had said.

"Did he not just listen to anything we just said?" Venus asked her girlfriend in a slightly annoyed tone, "Honey bun, you should know by now that boys are idiots, come on let's go back to your room where no boys can come near us." Mel says to Venus before pressing a quick kiss on her lips and pulling her away from the rest of the gang, "Bye guys!" Venus says as a farewell, just playing along with what Mel does, after all she is the dominant one in the relationship.


	7. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ - ᴀʟʟ ʜᴀʟʟᴏᴡꜱ ᴇᴠᴇ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi, this is sort of a side/ fun chapter and isn't too important to the plot. This is also the one and only time I will be using videos in the plot lmao.
> 
> Anyways enjoy and see you all next chapter!

{“𝗛𝗲𝘆 𝘆’𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝘂𝘀? 𝗦𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱. 𝗦𝗼 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗮𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼, 𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺, 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘂𝗽, 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀. 𝗦𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗽 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝘀, 𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗱𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 (𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝟴 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲……) 𝗦𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝘆, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗽, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 :)” 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗺𝘆. “𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗶𝘁. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲.” “𝗦𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗻𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆” 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽}

The Wonderland Wizards, plus Hermione, were sitting under their tree that was situated right next to the Black Lake, each of them brainstorming ideas for the talent show that was going to be held at the All Hallows Eve party in a couple days. “I say the boys do a muggle dance! What other way to get back to all of those pureblood enthusiastic maniacs, than doing a dance to a popular muggle song in the hilariously Wonderland Wizards way!” Fred exclaims,  
“I for one, completely agree with that idea,” George seconds. The group watches as all of the boys get up and leave, completely forgetting about Mel, Venus and Hermione as they go to discuss plans. George dragging Neville from his spot by the lake further down and Fred going and pulling Draco away from his friends. “Well, what are we going to do?” Hermione asks, voicing Venus’ unsaid question.

Everything goes suddenly quiet, before a mischievous smirk makes its way upon Venus’ face, “What if we did a dance also, to prove that we are better than the boys.”

***

The ball was only half an hour away, as Venus finished getting ready in her dorm. She and the others had agreed to get ready in their own dorms before meeting outside the Great Hall. Once Venus had finished dressing, she just stood in front of the mirror situated in the bathroom, pulling at the edges of her pink crop top, nerves surfacing, thoughts of what others would think about ‘The Golden Girl’ wearing such stuff, but that sudden thought made all of her worries fade away, she was going to prove to them all that she was not a pawn for them to use.

Venus added the finishing touches to her outfit and touched up her hair and neutral make up before heading down to the Hufflepuff common room to meet with Cedric. As she walked into the common room she saw Cedric waiting for her by the barrel entrance, it only took one simple glance at his costume to get her almost toppling over in hysterical laughter. “My goodness Tufts!” She cried, “Don’t you look… rather dashing Ceddy!” 

Her teasing caused Cedric to blush before he took in her outfit. “You say that Prongslette, while you are standing there in a crop top, all of the boys are going to be all over you tonight, whether they know that you and Mel are together or not, so watch out for that… Also I cannot wait to see the act that caused you to dress like this.” Cedric replies with an amused smirk.  
With a soft smile in return, the two hufflepuff’s joined hands and left to meet with their friends and respective dates. {“𝘃𝗯𝗻𝗷𝗵𝗷𝗻𝗸𝗷𝗵𝗯𝗳𝗱𝗳𝗰𝗱𝘅𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘅𝗱𝗳𝗰𝗴𝗳𝘃𝗵𝗴𝗯𝗵𝗷𝗺𝗸.” 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲} The pair soon reached the grand doors, and Cedric rushed over to Hermione and started gushing over how hot she looked. 

Venus giggled a little before scanning the room and looking for her girlfriend. Venus almost had to do a double take as she saw Mel, leaning against the door, looking hot as fuck {‘𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘆𝗹 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵’ 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝘀}, her eyes piercing into Venus’ as she soaked in her appearance.

This beautiful, heartfelt moment however was interrupted by the famous Weasley twins. “AWOOGA AWOOGA” Fred yelled as he looked at a gaping Cedric.

“Ceddy honey you look FANTABULOUS” George crooned as he draped himself over Cedric's shoulders. 

Cedric responded in an equally over the top voice, “Darlings you look absolutely edible if I do say so myself. And I do” 

As they entered the hall, they admired the costumes of the other students, and were met with stares of their own. Before the talent part of the evening could start, Dumblewhore insisted on making another speech. “Now before we begin and look at the wonderful range of talent we have for you tonight I have but two announcements to make. The first is that the top 3 acts, as voted by you shall receive house points for their house, or to be split between the houses. For 3rd place there are 50 points available, 100 for 2nd place and 150 for 1st place. Any inappropriate acts shall be stopped immediately. As for my second notice, anyone who tries to use tonight as an excuse to bully other students since the teachers are ‘busy’ shall be punished accordingly. Let the talent show commence!” Each group looked at each other in glee as Minnie called out, 

“First up, The Broadway Boys!” Freddie’s smirk grew wildly as he and the rest of the boys rushed on to the makeshift stage that took place where the teachers table usually was.

“CUE THE MUSIC MINNIE” George cried as they took their positions on stage.

https://youtu.be/n56qse0T-zw - they do their lil’ dancey dance

As they danced the girls started sputtering with laughter, as the rest of the hall watched on in shock and horror. “Shake that ass Freddie” Venus yelled out through her tears.

As Minnie shook off the shock of what she had just witnessed, and regained her usual demeanor, she raised her voice to the cheering crowd, “Next up, we have Ginevra Weasley singing ‘Into the Unknown’ from FROZEN 2.

https://youtu.be/P0TgI3IdCFQ - her shit singing

***  
The next couple acts were slightly boring and crowds quickly dispersed as groups either went to eat or talk to others. After Ginny, there was a group called Slyther-men who, very poorly, Venus would say, danced to a parody version of the Hogwarts school song. 

Soon enough however, the time came for the girls to go up and perform their act. The crowd was slightly interested about what ‘The Golden Girl’ and her friends were going to do, but after the boring acts from before, they didn’t expect anything like what The Broadway Boys did. Even the Pureblood’s had to admit that the act was humorous, even though it was performed by blood traitors, and a few other Pureblood’s singing and dancing to a muggle song.

“And up next, we have Next Gen, consisting of Venus Potter, Melissa Winters and Hermione Granger as they also dance to a muggle song” 

https://youtu.be/rJFgP0CHUFA - they do *their* lil’ dancey dance

The crowd looked on in shock at the weird muggle dancing the 3 were doing. As the song came to an end it was finally time for Dumblewhore to announce the winners of the competition. “In third place, we have The Broadway Boys with their, ….interesting performance,” a loud cheer interrupted them, “In second place we have…. Next Gen, with their muggle dancing,” a series of boos spread around the room, “And finally in first place we have Ginevra Weasley for her beautiful singing!” The hall filled with cries of outrage at this announcement.

“SHE WAS CRAP”

“THAT'S A LOAD OF BULL”

“EVEN FUCKING NEXT GEN WERE BETTER WITH THEIR 𝗠𝗨𝗚𝗚𝗟𝗘 DANCE”

Ron broke through the angry yells with a cry of “WELL AT LEAST SHE DID BETTER THAN THOSE SLIMY SNAKES AND MUDBLOODS!” He finished his yell with a cry of “STUPIFY” aimed at Venus.


	8. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ - ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʀʀɪᴠᴀʟ

“Right then,” Moody yelled “I’ve had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you’ve had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you’ve covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?” There was a general murmur of assent. “But you’re behind - very behind - on dealing with curses,” said Moody. “So I’m here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I’ve got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark -” 

“What, aren’t you staying?” Fred blurted out. Moody’s magical eye spun around to stare at him; Fred looked extremely apprehensive, but after a moment Moody smiled - the first time Venus had seen him do so. The effect was to make his heavily scarred face look more twisted and contorted than ever, but it was nevertheless good to know that he ever did anything as friendly as smile. Fred looked deeply relieved.

“You’ll be Arthur Weasley’s son, eh?” Moody said. “Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago… Yeah, I’m staying just one year. Special favor to Dumbledore… One year, and then back to my quiet retirement.” He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together. “So - straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I’m supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I’m not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you’re in the sixth year. You’re not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore’s got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you’re up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you’ve never seen? A wizard who’s about to put an illegal curse on you isn’t going to tell you what he’s about to do. He’s not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Parkinson, when I’m talking.” Pansy jumped and blushed. She had been showing Astoria her completed horoscope under the desk. Apparently Moody’s magical eye could see through solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head. “So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?” Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Fred’s and George’s. 

Moody pointed at George, though his magical eye was still fixed on Pansy. “Er,” said George tentatively, “my dad told me about one… Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?” “Ah, yes,” said Moody appreciatively. 

“Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse.” Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it. Fred felt Venus recoil slightly next to him - Venus hated spiders. Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, “Imperio!” The spider leapt from Moody’s hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a backflip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance. Everyone was laughing - everyone except Moody. “Think it’s funny, do you?” he growled. “You’d like it, would you, if I did it to you?” The laughter died away almost instantly. “Total control,” said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. “I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…” There was a pause, “Stop it!” George said concerned for his best friend. Venus’ eyes were glazed, memories of that terrible night resurfacing, memories that had gone un-said. Her hands were white from clenching as she was thrown back into the past.

𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘝𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘯 𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦, 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧….𝘋𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦?!? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱? {“𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲” 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗱} 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘋𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯...𝘝𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮.

As Venus was brought back into the classroom, she found Moody yelling at them all to leave. 

***

{“𝘄 𝟮𝗴𝘂𝟯𝗶𝗲𝗶𝗰𝘄𝗰𝗳𝗱𝘆𝟳𝗿𝗵𝟲𝘄𝘁𝟵𝘁𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗲𝟳𝟴𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗶 𝗼𝗲𝗱𝗷𝟴𝘄𝗻𝗯𝗳𝘃𝘀𝗱𝗰 - 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘀𝗲.” 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱, 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗽.}

They scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving; everything was still, silent, and quite as usual. Venus was starting to feel cold. She wished they’d hurry up… Maybe the foreign students were preparing a dramatic entrance… Dumblewhore then called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers - “Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!” 

“Where?” said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

“There!” yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest. Something large, something that the six Wizards couldn’t discern.

The gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shined from the castle windows hit it, and they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses which looked an awful like visible thestrals, cloaked in a thin layer of snowy-white fur. The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash that made Venus jump backward into Mel’s arms, the horses’ hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the snowy-white horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery black eyes. Venus was so enchanted at the horses and the feeling of being pressed against the warmth of Mel’s body that it was only then that, Venus saw a shining, high heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child’s sled - followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman she had ever seen in her life. The size of the carriage was suddenly, silently explained. A few people gasped. Venus had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in his life, and that was Hagrid; she doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights. Yet somehow - maybe simply because she was used to Hagrid - this woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers. Dumblewhore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman. Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumblewhore, extending a glittering hand. Dumblewhore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.

“My dear Madame Maxime,” he said. “Welcome to Hogwarts.”

“Dumbly-whort,” said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. “I ‘ope I find you well?” 

“In excellent form, I thank you,” said Dumblewhore. 

“My pupils,” said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her. Venus noticed about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, emerged from the carriage and were now following behind Madame Maxime. From what Venus could see of them (they were standing in Madame Maxime’s enormous shadow), they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces. “’As Karkaroff arrived yet?” Madame Maxime asked. 

“He should be here any moment,” said Dumblewhore. “Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?”

“Warm up, I think,” said Madame Maxime. “But ze ‘orses -”

“Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them,” said Dumblewhore, “the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges.” 

“Skrewts,” George muttered to Venus, grinning. 

“My steeds require - er - forceful ‘andling,” said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. “Zey are very strong…”

“I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job,” said Dumblewhore, smiling. 

“Very well,” said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. “Will you please inform zis ‘Agrid zat ze ‘orses drink only single-malt whiskey?” 

“It will be attended to,” said Dumblewhore, also bowing.

“Come,” said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps. 

“How big d’you reckon Durmstrang’s horses are going to be?” Fred said, leaning around Pansy and Astoria to address Venus and Mel. 

“Well, if they’re any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won’t be able to handle them,” said Venus. “That’s if he hasn’t been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what’s up with them?” 

“Maybe they’ve escaped,” said Cedric hopefully.

“Oh don’t say that,” said Hermione with a shudder. “Imagine that lot loose on the grounds…” They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky. For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime’s huge horses snorting and stamping. But then - 

“Can you hear something?” said George suddenly. Venus listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed. 

“The lake!” yelled Lee Jordan, another fifth year Gryffindor, pointing down at it. “Look at the lake!” From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks - and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake’s floor… What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool… and then Venus saw the rigging… 

“It’s a mast!” she said in an awed expression to Cedric and Hermione. Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank. People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship’s portholes. All of them, Venus noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle… but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, she saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair. 

“Dumbledore!” he called heartily as he walked up the slope. “How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?” 

“Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumblewhore replied. Karkaroff had a deep, stern voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumblewhore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumblewhore, he shook hands with both of his own. “Dear old Hogwarts,” he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Venus noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. “How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don’t mind, Dumblewhore? Viktor has a slight head cold…” Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Venus caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He didn’t need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile. 

“Venus - it’s Krum! I don’t believe it!” Fred cried, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. 

“Krum, Venus! Viktor Krum!” “For heaven’s sake, Fred, he’s only a Quidditch player,” said Hermione. 

“Only a Quidditch player?” Fred exclaimed, looking at her as though he couldn’t believe his ears. “Hermione - he’s one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!” As they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, Venus saw Lee Jordan jumping up and down on the soles of his feet to get a better look at the back of Krum’s head.

Several sixth-year girls were frantically searching their pockets as they walked - “Oh I don’t believe it, I haven’t got a single quill on me -”

“D’you think he’d sign my hat in lipstick?”

“Really,” Hermione said loftily as they passed the girls, now squabbling over the lipstick.

“I’m getting his autograph if I can,” said Fred. “You haven’t got a quill, have you, Venus?” 

“Nope, they’re upstairs in my bag,” said Venus. 

They walked over to their respective tables and sat down. Venus could see that Fred and George took care to sit on the side facing the doorway, because Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students were still gathered around it, apparently unsure about where they should sit. The students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Hufflepuff table, a stunningly pretty girl named Fleur, sitting next to Venus, who in Venus’ opinion seemed to look like she had Veela blood. “It’s not that cold,” said Ron, (a measly fifth year who had made it his mission to torture the Wonderland Wizards at every opening he got) defensively from the Gryffindor table. “Why didn’t they bring cloaks?”

“Over here! Come and sit over here!” Ron hissed. “Over here! Ginny, budge up, make a space -” 

“What?” 

“Too late,” said Ron bitterly. Viktor Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students had settled themselves at the Slytherin table. Veenus smirked as she watched Ron’s defeated face versing against the glee of Fred and George as Krum sat next to the pair.

Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his moldy old tailcoat in honor of the occasion. Venus was surprised to see that he added four chairs, two on either side of Dumblewhore’s.

“But there are only two extra people,” Chloe, a girl in the year below queried. “Why’s Filch putting out four chairs, who else is coming?” 

“Eh?” muttered the boy next to her. When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumblewhore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed, Venus glared at most of them, slightly disgusted at the lack of respect that the other students had for the foreign school. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumblewhore’s left-hand side. 

Dumblewhore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests,” said Dumblewhore, beaming around at the foreign students. “I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable.” 

“The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast,” Dumblewhore continued. “I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!” He sat down, and Venus saw Krum lean forward at once and engage Mel in conversation, which caused a bubble of jealousy to form in the pit of her stomach.

The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Venus had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.

“What’s that?” Venus asked Fleur, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding. 

“Bouillabaisse,” she answered.

“Bless you,” said Ron from the other table

“Shove off you racist prick!” Venus snapped at the boy before turning back to the meal.

“It looks positively delicious,” said Venus, looking at the girl with a warm smile upon her face,

“Thank you for standing up for me. It’s very nice.” 

“Well why shouldn’t I? Everyone deserves someone to stand up for them, and everyone needs a little love and attention in their lives, even if it’s just a simple wave or a warm smile with a small hello,” she replied, as she helped herself to the French dish, not noticing the steaming fury coming from a certain Slytherin, before George’s voice rings throughout the whole hall, “What in Merlin’s name Fred!”


	9. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰɪᴠᴇ - ɴᴀᴍᴇꜱ ᴄʜᴏꜱᴇɴ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴀᴛᴇꜱ ꜱᴛᴏʟᴇɴ

{“𝗛𝗶 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀, 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳, 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸” 𝗟𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱}

As Hermione rejoined the group after classes in their usual spot by the Great Lake. The twins, Mel and Venus had made the stupid decision to try and climb the tree by where they usually sat. Cedric had chosen to be the sensible one, sitting below the tree in an effort to try and stop them from hurting themselves too badly. As ‘Mione got close enough to wrap Cedric into a hug, Venus and Mel reached the top of the tree and sat there watching the two struggling boys attempt to climb it. Hermione sighed in mild annoyance as she pulled Cedric down with her to cuddle. The others are old enough to not die from a 10 foot drop. Worse case scenario they go to the hospital wing, regardless, Hermione needed more time with her soulmate. And Cedric wasn’t one to say no to cuddles so he happily obliged with a soft sigh as he allowed himself to be dragged down and pulled into the ever comforting embrace of Hermione’s arms and chest. Hermione sighed in relaxation as she took the long missed opportunity to stick her nose in his neck and take a deep breath. “I love you Ceddy”

“I love you too ‘Mione”

The Wonderland Wizards had decided to disperse for the day, as the Slytherins (Fred, George and Mel) had Quidditch as Adrian Pucey (Quidditch Captain) had ramped up their practice time, since there were less matches this year the ones they played were even more important. This gave Venus and Hermione some time to study. The two girls decided to go to the library and work until the others came to find them. It had been maybe 20 minutes before a...nervous? Fleur Delacour came up and asked if she could join them. The girls of course agreed, happy to have a new study mate, and excited to get to know the french girl more.

A few hours passed, the girls got closer than they could ever have thought they would, soon knowing the others favorite things and small quirks. As Hermione went to return the books they had been using Venus and Fleur started laughing loudly together, Venus resting her head on Fleur’s shoulder as a Slytherin girl entered the library, having finished practice early and wanting to surprise her girlfriend, instead, she left with a sour expression on her face.

***

The Guy Fawkes feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, Venus didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as she would have normally. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the standing up to see whether Dumblewhore had finished eating yet, Venus simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumblewhore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumblewhore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting. . . . A few people kept checking their watches. . .

"Any second," Evan whispered, another Hufflepuff first year, two seats away from Venus.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.

Dumblewhore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

"No surprises there!" yelled Fred from the other side of the hall, as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Venus saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumblewhore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumblewhore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

Venus turned to the girl next to her and gave her a quick hug, “Congratulations, and good luck! I’ll talk to you later.” She whispered to the veela before she too, went through the back door. 

"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Cedric said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. "Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, Venus thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.

The Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumblewhore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

Venus turned towards her brother in every way other than blood and cheered loudly while chuckling at his shocked expression. “WELL DONE CEDDY!” She yelled as Cedric got up, the cheering from the Hufflepuff table louder than any other. Once Cedric too was gone, Dumblewhore spoke up once more, 

"Excellent!" Dumblewhore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real --"

But Dumblewhore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumblewhore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumblewhore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumblewhore. And then Dumblewhore cleared his throat and read out - "Venus Potter." 

Venus sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at her. She was stunned. She felt numb. She was surely dreaming. She had not heard correctly. 

There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Venus as she sat, frozen, in her seat, her friends from the other tables looking at her in shock and worry.

Up at the top table, Minnie had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumblewhore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly.

Venus turned to the long Hufflepuff table all watching her, openmouthed.

"I didn't put my name in," Venus said blankly. "You know I didn't." She explained to Hermione, who was on the seat behind her.

At the top table, Professor Dumblewhore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.

"Venus Potter!" he called again. "Venus! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione whispered.

Venus got to her feet, trod on the hem of her robes, and stumbled slightly. She set off and along the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and she could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon her, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, she was right in front of Dumblewhore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.

"Well... through the door, Venus," said Dumblewhore, and gave her a weird, uncomforting look that caused her hair to stand on end.

Venus then moved off along the teachers' table. Sevy was seated right at the end. He shook with concern, looking at her, tears on the verge of his eyes as he watched his daughter walk through the door out of the Great Hall. 

Venus found herself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite her.

Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched- up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Venus walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?" She asked her friend.

She thought she had come to deliver a message. Venus didn't know how to explain what had just happened. She just stood there, looking at the three champions. It struck her how very tall all of them were.

There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. "Extraordinary! Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen... ladies," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard champion?"

Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Harry. Cedric looked concerned. He looked from Bagman to Venus and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, tossed her hair, mirroring Cedric’s concern, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."

"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Venus’ name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"

Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Both Cedric and Fleur’s were looking more concerned by the second, as they both worried for their friend, Fleur walked over and embraced Venus in a protective hug,

"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman."

The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumblewhore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Minnie, and Sevy. Venus heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Minnie closed the door.

"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat Venus is to compete also!" Worry laced in her voice.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously, looking down at the two girls. "I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions - or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"

He gave a short and nasty laugh.

"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."

“It is in no way Venus’ fault Karkaroff," Sevy’s growled out. His black eyes were alight with worry for his daughter. "Don't go blaming Venus just because of your jealousy-"

"Thank you, Severus," said Dumblewhore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted with underlined concern through his curtain of greasy black hair.

Professor Dumblewhore was now looking down at Venus, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles, which she could say, was definitely not one of concern.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Venus?" he asked calmly.

"No," said Venus. She was very aware of everybody watching her closely. Snape made a soft noise that sounded awfully like a whimper from the shadows.

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" said Professor Dumblewhore, ignoring Snape, his eyes scanning over Cedric and Fleur before looking back down at Venus.

"No," said Venus vehemently.

"Ah, but of course she is lying!" cried Karkaroff. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip trembling slightly.

"She could not have crossed the Age Line," said Minnie sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that -"

"Dumbly-dorr please, she is underage" said Fleur, almost on the verge of tears as she tried to protest her best friend from having to compete in the tournament.

"It is possible, of course," said Dumblewhore politely.

"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!" said Minnie. "Really, what nonsense! Venus could not have crossed the line herself, and as Professor Dumblewhore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for her, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else!"

"Mr. Crouch... Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our - er - objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"

"I insist upon re-submitting the names of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff. He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a very ugly look indeed. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore."

"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out - it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament -"

"- in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "You can't leave your champion now. She’s got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contracts, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"

Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud clunk. 

"If anyone's got a reason to complain, it's Potter," growled Moody, "but... funny thing... I don't hear her saying a word. . .” 

‘𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵.’ Karkaroff muttered, obviously not expecting Moody to hear it,

"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it," said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl.

An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, "Moody, old man... what a thing to say!"

"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn't discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime," said Karkaroff loudly. "Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons.

"Imagining things, am I?" growled Moody. "Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the girl’s name in that goblet… It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament... I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure she was the only one in his category..."

"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly, 

"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a menacing voice. "It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff - as you ought to remember...

"Alastor!" said Dumblewhore warningly. 

"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumblewhore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Venus have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do. ”

As there was no reply Bagman spoke up

"Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors?"

Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie. "Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes... the first task..." 

"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Venus, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard... very important. The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges. The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumblewhore. "I think that's all, is it, Albus?" As Dumblewhore nods his head, Crouch continues, “Well I best be off to the Ministry,” and before anyone else could say anything else, he went into the open fire and flooed away.

Slowly after that, everyone began to disperse, Fleur giving Venus another quick hug before going to catch up with her headmistress, Krum walking off with Karkaroff, Cedric and Venus walking away and back to Hufflepuff tower.


	10. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱɪx - ᴛʜᴇ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴛᴀꜱᴋ + ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴛᴀꜱᴋ ᴘʀᴇᴘᴀʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just decided to pump out these chapters, so I hope you enjoyed them

It was around 11 o’clock when Venus left the castle. Mel had told her to meet her to follow Hagrid on his date under the invisibility cloak. They had been walking for around 20 minutes before Venus heard something. Men were shouting up ahead. . . then came a deafening roar. Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Venus hurried up alongside them, then - for a split second, she thought she was seeing bonfires, and men darting around them - and then her mouth fell open.

Dragons. Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting - torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; and a gigantic black one, more lizard- hike than the others, which was nearest to them.

At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. Mesmerized, Venus looked up, high above her, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage, she couldn't tell which... It was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream, which made her heart call out to the beast, not wanting it to be in pain any longer. "Keep back there, Hagrid!" yelled a wizard near the fence, who Venus recognised as the handsome Charlie Weasley, her mate’s soulmate, straining on the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"

"Is'n' it beautiful?" said Hagrid softly.

"It's no good!" yelled another wizard. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!" Venus saw each of the dragon keepers pull out their wands.

"Stupefy!" they shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides.

Venus watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking - then, very slowly, it fell. Several tons of sinewy, scaly- black dragon hit the ground with a thud that Venus could have sworn made the trees behind her quake. The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.

"All right, Hagrid?" Charlie panted, coming over to talk. "They should be okay now - we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet - but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all -"

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something chosen to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Venus could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid.

"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one -- a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray -- and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red.

"Four. . ." said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do - fight 'em?"

"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why. . . but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."

Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and Venus saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches. Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.

"I've got them counted, Hagrid," said Charlie sternly, Venus could hear a chuckle from behind Charlie, which she recognised to be Mel’s immediately, her figure coming into view and slinging her arm around Charlie’s shoulders, “You know how much dragons love me, don’t ya Hagrid.” A reference to her first year, when she helped to nurture the small dragon that Hagrid so desperately wanted to hatch.

It was when Mel, Charlie and Hagrid got into a long discussion about the different dragons, that Venus knew she had, had enough. She turned silently and began to walk away, back to the castle. She didn't know whether she was glad she'd seen what was coming or not. She was going to be armed with her wand - which, just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood - against a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon. And she had to get past it. With everyone watching. How?

Venus sped up, skirting the edge of the forest when, without warning, he ran into something very solid. Venus fell backward, clutching the cloak around him. A voice nearby said, "Ouch! Who's there?"

She hastily checked that the cloak was covering her and stood very still, staring up at the dark outline of the wizard she had hit. She recognized the goatee... it was Karkaroff.

"Who's there?" said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Venus remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were.

Very slowly and very carefully, Venus got to her feet and set off again as fast as she could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back toward Hogwarts. 

***

The next morning Venus pulled Cedric aside before they walked down to breakfast. "Tufts," said Venus, "The first task is dragons." 

"What?" said Cedric, shock evident on his face, if this was the first task, how hard would the second and third be?

"Dragons," said Venus, speaking quickly, "They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them."

Cedric stared at her, Venus saw some of the panic she'd been feeling since Saturday night flickering in his grey eyes.

"Are you sure?" Cedric said in a hushed voice.

And with that, the two puffs made their way down to breakfast, both trembling at the prospect of facing dragons the next day. Just at that moment, Venus made a mental note to also notify Fleur of the task, after all they were friends.

***

Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Venus supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Venus entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Venus returned, feeling the muscles in her face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it.

"Venus! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at him. "Come in, come in, make yourself at home!"

Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again.

"Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different - er - varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too.. . ah, yes... your task is to collect the golden egg!"

Venus glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all, Venus suspected that Karkaroff had already told Krum of what was to come…

And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking... Venus felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species. And then - it seemed like about a second later to Venus - Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack.

"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.

She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck and Venus knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that’s my best friend! Show no fear Fleur! Venus thought as she let the others pick out their dragons after she denied Bagman’s request for going second, she rather, wanting to wait for the others to pick theirs so that she knew what dragon was going to be left.

The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground, yep Karkaroff told him alright.

Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short- Snout, the number one tied around its neck. Venus now knowing what was left, put her hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four. It stretched its wings as she looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs, but calmed down as she hummed a small tune and stroked its scales, the dragon letting out a cute sneeze before curling up in her hand.

"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commenting. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? 

Venus walked over to were Cedric was sitting, staring at the entrance to the tent, looking like he was going to throw up, “It’s okay Ceddy, I know you are going to do well, we are all cheering for you, and I know a certain Gryffindor will be cheering for you as well.” Venus comforted a trembling Cedric, as she helped him to the entrance, “Good Luck, Ceddy!”

Venus went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to- face with the living counterpart of his model.

It was worse than Venus could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed... yelled... gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout and she couldn’t help but worry about what her brother must be going through. 

Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent, so in a way to calm her down, she walked over to the slightly panicked veela and placed a hand softly on her shoulder just as Bagman’s voice rang out once more, "He's taking risks, this one!"... "Clever move - pity it didn't work!"

“It’s okay Fleur, I’m sure you’ll do great, just make sure to focus on your end goal, and try not to get hurt, I would hate to see you in a state like that.” Venus gave her a small smile as she continued to try and calm her friend down.

And then, after about fifteen minutes, Venus heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.

"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges! 

But she didn't shout out the marks; Venus supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd.

"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"

Fleur was trembling from head to foot; Venus looked towards her once again, and gave her a quick hug before she left the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. Venus and Krum were now left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze.

The same process started again..."Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh... nearly! Careful now... good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"

Venus winced at every comment made, scared at the prospect of the ones she loved the most getting hurt.

Ten minutes later, Venus heard the crowd erupt into applause once more... Fleur must have been successful too, this caused a sigh of relief to flow throughout her body, before there was once again a pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown... more clapping... then, for the third time, the whistle.

"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Venus quite alone.

She felt much more aware of his body than usual; very aware of the way her heart was pumping fast, and her fingers tingling with fear... yet at the same time, she seemed to be outside herself, seeing the walls of the tent, and hearing the crowd, as though from far away.

"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Venus heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing - and - yes, he's got the egg!"

Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished - it would be Venus’ turn any moment.

She stood up, noticing dimly that her legs seemed to be made of marshmallow. She waited. And then she heard the whistle blow. Venus walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside of her. And now she was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence.

She saw everything in front of her as though it was a very highly colored dream. There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at her from stands that had been magicked there since she’d last stood on this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon her, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground, yet she could see behind the scaly surface, all the way down to the sheer beauty of the nesting mother. 

The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Venus didn't know or care. It was time to do what she had to do... to focus her mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was her only chance.

She raised her wand, prepared to summon her Firebolt that her Godfather had gifted to her last year, when at the last moment, she changed her mind. Instead she walked ever so closer to the Horntail, making sure not to make any sudden movements, before she started singing a lullaby she remembered hearing when she was little,

“Our hero, our hero  
Claims a warrior’s heart  
I tell you, I tell you  
The Dragonborn comes,”

As Venus begins to sing, all could visibly watch as the dragon relaxes, almost falling into a dream-like state as she moved closer and closer, until Venus’ hand was stroking the mother’s snout, she then continued to sing,

“With a voice wielding power of the ancient nord art  
Believe, believe the Dragonborn comes  
It’s an end to the Skyrim’s foes   
Beware, beware the Dragonborn comes”

The crowd look onto the grounds in enchantment as they watch the dragon slowly rest it’s head upon the stone and begin to fall asleep,

“For the darkness has passed and the legend yet grows  
You’ll know, you’ll know  
The Dragonborn’s come.”

After she finished singing, the dragon was now in a peaceful slumber, and ever so quietly, Venus walked past the sleeping mother and grabbed the golden egg and held it up into the air, pumping her fist up in victory.


	11. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ -  ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴠɪʟ ʙᴀᴛʜʙᴏᴍʙ

The stands erupted into loud cheers, She had done it! Since Venus was the last champion to fight for the egg, it was now time for her to be judged. Before this could take place however Venus had to go through 2 check ups, one from Madame Pomfrey to check for any wounds and one from her concerned girlfriend who would “go and show that dragon a piece of my mind if it dared hurt my honey bun.” Thankfully for the dragon, Venus didn’t even receive a scratch. The other champions had already received their scores after they had gotten their egg. 

Mel drew breath as she and Venus reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Venus could see where the five judges were sitting - right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.

“It’s marks out of ten from each one,” Mel said, and Venus squinting up the field, saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What hooked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

“Not bad!” said Cedric as the crowd applauded. Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

“Looking good!” Fred yelled, thumping Venus on the back. Next, Dumblewhore. He put up a five? The crowd became silent, their own headmaster had given Venus the lowest score?.  
Ludo Bagman - ten. “Ten?” said Venus in disbelief. “But… That’s the highest rank… No one else got a ten...What’s he playing at?”

“Venus, don’t complain!” George yelled excitedly. And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - six.

“You’re tied in first place, Venus! You and Krum!” said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. “Listen, I’ve got to go, me and Mel were planning on hanging out for a couple hours before I have to head back to the Burrow. Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you’ve got to hang around for a few more minutes… Bagman wants a word, back in the champions’ tent.” With that Charlie ran off again, dragging a giggling and blushing Mel after him as they headed back up towards Hogwarts. 

***

It was awkward moving under the cloak tonight, because Venus had the heavy egg under one arm and the map held in front of her nose with the other. However, the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, and by checking the map at strategic intervals, Venus was able to ensure that she wouldn’t run into anyone she wanted to avoid. When she reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, she located the right door, leaned close to it, and muttered the password, “Pine fresh,” just as Minnie had told her. The door creaked open. Venus slipped inside, bolted the door behind her, and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around. 

The bathroom was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pool’s edges, each with a differently colored jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board?!? Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. It fluttered every time she snored. 

Venus moved forward, looking around, her footsteps echoing off the walls. Magnificent though the bathroom was - and quite keen though she was to try out a few of those taps - now she was here she couldn’t quite suppress the feeling that Cedric might have been having her on. How on earth was this supposed to help solve the mystery of the egg? Nevertheless, she put one of the fluffy towels, the cloak, the map, and the egg at the side of the swimming-pool-sized bath, then knelt down and turned on a few of the taps. She could tell at once that they carried different sorts of bubble bath mixed with the water, though it wasn’t bubble bath as Venus had ever experienced it. 

One tap gushed pink and blue bubbles the size of footballs; another poured ice-white foam so thick that Venus thought it would have supported her weight if she’d cared to test it; a third sent heavily perfumed purple clouds hovering over the surface of the water. Venus amused herself for a while turning the taps on and off, particularly enjoying the effect of one whose jet bounced off the surface of the water in large arcs. Then, when the deep pool was full of hot water, foam, and bubbles, which took a very short time considering its size, Venus turned off all the taps, pulled off her pajamas, slippers, and dressing gown, leaving her just in her swimsuit and slid into the water. 

It was so deep that her feet barely touched the bottom, and she actually did a couple of lengths before swimming back to the side and treading water, staring at the egg. Highly enjoyable though it was to swim in hot and foamy water with clouds of different-colored steam wafting all around her, no stroke of brilliance came to her, no sudden burst of understanding. Venus stretched out her arms, lifted the egg in her wet hands, and opened it.

The wailing, screeching sound filled the bathroom, echoing and reverberating off the marble walls, but it sounded just as incomprehensible as ever, if not more so with all the echoes. She snapped it shut again, worried that the sound would attract Filch, and then, making her jump so badly that she dropped the egg, which clattered away across the bathroom floor, someone spoke. “I’d try putting it in the water, if I were you.” Venus had swallowed a considerable amount of bubbles in shock.

She stood up, sputtering, and saw the ghost of a very glum-looking girl sitting cross-legged on top of one of the taps. It was Moaning Myrtle, who was usually to be heard sobbing in the S-bend of a toilet three floors below. “Myrtle!” Venus said in outrage, 

“You haven’t been to see me for ages.” 

“Yeah… well…” said Venus, bending her knees slightly, just to make absolutely sure Myrtle couldn’t see anything but her head,  
“You used to be in there all the time.” said Myrtle miserably. 

“I got told off for going in there.” said Venus, which was half-true; Percy had once caught her coming out of Myrtle's bathroom. “I thought I’d better not come back after that.” 

“Oh… I see…” said Myrtle, picking at a spot on her chin in a morose sort of way. “Well… anyway… I’d try the egg in the water. That’s what Cedric Diggory did.”

“Have you been spying on him too?” said Venus indignantly. “What d’you do, sneak up here in the evenings to watch the prefects take baths?”

“Sometimes,” said Myrtle, rather slyly, “but I’ve never come out to speak to anyone before.” 

“I’m honored,” said Venus darkly.

“Go on, then… open it under the water!”

Venus lowered the egg beneath the foamy surface and opened it… and this time, it did not wail. A gurgling song was coming out of it, a song whose words she couldn’t distinguish through the water. 

“You need to put your head under too,” said Myrtle, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying bossing her around. “Go on!” 

Venus took a great breath and slid under the surface - and now, sitting on the marble bottom of the bubble-filled bath, she heard a chorus of eerie voices singing to her from the open egg in her hands:

“Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground,  
And while you re searching, ponder this:  
We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,  
An hour long you’ll have to look,  
And to recover what we took,  
But past an hour- the prospect’s black,  
Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back” 

Venus let herself float back upward and broke the bubbly surface, shaking her hair out of her eyes. “Hear it?” said Myrtle. 

“Yeah… ‘Come seek us where our voices sound… ’ and if I need persuading… hang on, I need to listen again…” she sank back beneath the water. It took three more underwater renditions of the egg’s song before Venus had it memorized; then she trod water for a while, thinking hard, while Myrtle sat and watched her. “I’ve got to go and look for people who can’t use their voices above the ground…” she said slowly. “Er… who could that be?” 

“Slow, aren’t you?” 

She had never seen Moaning Myrtle so cheerful. Venus stared around the bathroom, thinking… if the voices could only be heard underwater, then it made sense for them to belong to underwater creatures. She ran this theory past Myrtle, who smirked at her.

“Well, that’s what Diggory thought,” she said. “He lay there talking to himself for ages about it, before his soulmate came along. Ages and ages… nearly all the bubbles had gone…” 

“Underwater…”Venus said slowly. “Myrtle… what lives in the lake, apart from the giant squid?”

“Oh all sorts,” she said. “I sometimes go down there… sometimes I don't have any choice, if someone flushes my toilet when I’m not expecting it…” 

Trying not to think about Moaning Myrtle zooming down a pipe to the lake with the contents of a toilet. Venus said, “Well, does anything in there have a human voice? Hang on -” Venus’ eyes had fallen on the picture of the snoozing mermaid on the wall. “Myrtle, there aren’t merpeople in there, are there?”

“Oooh, very good,” she said, her thick glasses twinkling, “it took Diggory much longer than that, well he did have that girlfriend of his, but still! And that was with her awake too… I swear, boys can be so daft when a girl is around” - Myrtle jerked her head toward the mermaid with an expression of great dislike on her glum face - “giggling and showing off and flashing her fins…” 

“That's it, isn’t it?” said Venus excitedly. “The second task is to go and find the merpeople in the lake and… and…” But she suddenly realized what she was saying, and she felt the excitement drain out of her as though someone had just pulled a plug in her stomach. 

“Myrtle,” Venus said slowly, “how am I supposed to breathe?” 

At this, Myrtle’s eyes filled with sudden tears again. “Tactless!” she muttered, groping in her robes for a handkerchief.

“What’s tactless?” asked Venus, bewildered. 

“Talking about breathing in front of me!” she said shrilly, and her voice echoed loudly around the bathroom. “When I can’t… when I haven’t… not for ages…” She buried her face in her handkerchief and sniffed loudly. 

Venus remembered how touchy Myrtle had always been about being dead, but none of the other ghosts she knew made such a fuss about it. “Sorry,” she said impatiently. “I didn’t mean - I just forgot… I’m so sorry Myrtle!” Venus apologised to her old friend.

“Oh yes, very easy to forget Myrtle’s dead,” said Myrtle, gulping, looking at her out of swollen eyes. “Nobody missed me even when I was alive. Took them hours and hours to find my body - I know, I was sitting there waiting for them. Olive Hornby came into the bathroom – ‘Are you in here again, sulking, Myrtle?’ she said, ‘because Professor Dippet asked me to look for you -’ And then she saw my body… ooooh, she didn’t forget it until her dying day, I made sure of that… followed her around and reminded her, I did. I remember at her brother’s wedding -” 

But she wasn’t listening; she was thinking about the merpeople’s song again. “We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss.” That sounded as though they were going to steal something of hers, something she had to get back. What were they going to take? 

“—and then, of course, she went to the Ministry of Magic to stop me stalking her, so I had to come back here and live in my toilet.”

“Good,” said Venus vaguely. “Well, I’m a lot further on than I was.” She retrieved the egg from the bottom of the bath, climbed out, dried herself, and pulled on her pajamas and dressing gown again.

“Will you come and visit me in my bathroom again sometime?” Moaning Myrtle asked mournfully as Venus picked up the Invisibility Cloak.

“Er… I’ll try,” She said, as she left the room and headed back to her dorms.

***

Meanwhile back at the Hufflepuff common room, a certain pair where snogging in the shadowed corner of the secluded area, no one to interrupt the couple,

“You don’t know how hot you looked with your wet hair like that. Your boxers that just were practically glued to your cute ass. The way the water fell from your abs. Oh I was practically drooling. Wanting. To. Devour. You. Whole.” At each punctuation Hermione kissed Cedric like there was no tomorrow, leaving no doubt to the truth of her words.

Cedric, now, will be forever glad that Venus didn’t walk in on them… In such a compromising situation… After all she is practically his sister, and he didn’t want his sister to see him… Like that.  
“God, we almost ran out of time thanks to you and your amazing body, the way your frizzy hair magically manages to somewhat straighten when you were in that water. Oh the way your body moved. It took my whole being not to just ravish you there.” Cedric’s eyes were dark with lust, the overwhelming desire to take Hermione right then and there slowly began to overtake him, his hands moved like they were in auto-drive. 

He put his hands around his ass, forcing her to come as close as she can to his body before they locked lips once more, desperately trying to ignore both of their arousal that was evidently clear, as they were currently in a public place and the risk was too high to do anything more than kiss.

It was ages before anyone came back into the common room, and Hermione had long been gone, but Cedric still remained, as he thought about what the second task would entail. His concentration broke when he noticed Venus had taken the seat next to him, hair wet from the bath.

“Find out the clue okay?” Cedric asked the red-head, a small smile on his face as he tried to lighten up his thoughts.

“Yeah… But that doesn’t mean I have a single fucking clue about what it means…” Venus trailed off after her reply.

Venus looked at Cedric, and let out a sigh before she asked him a question that had plagued her thoughts ever since the first task, “Do you think Mel is going to break up with me?” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes at the single thought of her first girlfriend leaving her. Venus knew that she was going off with Charlie, her soulmate… But it seemed that Mel didn’t even have the gall to confront her about it. No. She had even taken up avoiding the Hufflepuff at every chance.

Cedric just looked down at his sister, pain formed inside his own, as he knew what it must feel like for her… After all, they had been together for so long and now that Mel had a soulmate, she up and left Venus to fend for herself… Cedric knew that Mel could have handled things better than avoiding her… But that was just Mel… She wasn’t best with talking about emotions,  
He didn’t answer her, but he knew that his facial expression was enough of an answer, “Merlin, why does my life have to be so fucked up! First my parents die and my god-father is carted off to Azkaban, then I am carted off to my cousin’s to live there, and I find out that the wizarding world is bigger than I thought! Then the next thing I know is that I am on the train and I meet all of you guys, which I have to say is one of my most treasured memories! Then in my second year I get attacked by the same man who supposedly killed my parents, and in my bloody fourth year a STUPID SNAKE ALMOST KILLED ME AND MY FRIENDS! And now when I thought that maybe my life was taking a turn for the better, my girlfriend, who I had been dating for three years! Three years! Doesn’t even talk to me as a way of breaking up! I am thrown into a fucking deadly game I didn’t even sign up for! I am meant to save the wizarding world! A job I didn’t even want! Everyone expects me to be an Auror! WELL DO YOU KNOW WHAT? I DON’T WANT TO BE A FUCKING AUROR, I DON’T WANT TO BE A PAWN FOR THE WORLD TO PLAY WITH! I AM FUCKING DONE!” At this point Venus is crying so hard with grief, her brother, Cedric, there trying to comfort her.

“Shhhh, I’m here for you,” Cedric soothes, pulling Venus into his lap and lulling the crying girl to sleep. He made a mental note to confront Mel about the situation tomorrow, it didn’t matter that she had found her soulmate, she was dating Venus first, and should have told her about the advances she was making with Charlie… Mel was not going to be a popular one when the twins and Hermione found out, even Draco cared about Venus, her witty, sarcastic and mischievous nature managing to draw the eye of every person that she met, and it was at this very moment that Cedric remembered the promise he had made to himself when Venus was sorted into Hufflepuff… 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵.


	12. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ - ᴛʜᴇ ʏᴜʟᴇ ʙᴀʟʟ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴛᴀꜱᴋ

{“𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧. 𝙄𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙩. 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙭𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨.” 𝙇𝙮𝙨𝙨𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙭 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚𝙨, “𝘼𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚, 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙣.” 𝘼𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥}

It had been a few weeks since Venus had visited the Prefects bathroom and Mel had remained keeping her distance, but now it was from the entirety of the Wonderland Wizards Gang. A rift had appeared between the gang, as Mel distanced herself from Venus more, the sour feelings in the others grew until soon, none of them had spoken in days. At meal times, They had begun distancing themselves from her, moving to the other end of the table. As usual Mel had shown little emotional reaction instead choosing to bury herself into her studies. The average student wouldn’t have noticed any changes but Venus did. The hair that Venus used to love playing with had gotten duller, the smile that used to make her day rarely appeared any more - particularly since Charlie appeared even less often since the task was over - and Mel had clearly lost weight. Venus was the same way, she hadn’t slept properly since this had started, she had stopped eating as much at meal times - despite how much the others had tried to get her to eat. Dark bags had made their home under her eyes and her hair hung limply around her shoulders. 

The others were also affected, the twins had taken a sharp dislike toward their older brother since, at least in their eyes, this behaviour had only started when Charlie had come for the first task and they had to speak to Dumblwhore about Charlie staying in Hogsmeade for the tournament so him and his soulmate could see each other. They didn’t like how Mel was behavining towards their little puff but they were suspicious since before the first task none of this behaviour had been there but now she had gotten very distant to them all, barely bothering to speak to them except for during Quidditch, and even then it was only a few. Since the split, George and Fred had spent less time defending Mel during Quidditch games, resulting in a few hospital wing visits, but the Wonderland Wizards wouldn’t know since they hadn’t cared to visit. 

Fleur seemed to be the only one who could get somewhat through to Venus, but even then Venus barely participated in life. She spent all her time studying, practicing for the second task and crying into Fleur’s shoulder in the Hufflepuff common room. If it wasn't for the twins and Hermione dragging her to class she most likely wouldn’t have left her room.

{“𝙄 𝘿𝙊𝙉’𝙏 𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙉𝘼 𝙒𝙍𝙄𝙏𝙀 𝘼𝙈𝙔, 𝙄 𝘿𝙊𝙉’𝙏 𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙉𝘼 𝙒𝙍𝙄𝙏𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙉𝙀𝙓𝙏 𝙎𝘾𝙀𝙉𝙀! 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙃𝘼𝙎 𝘽𝙀𝙀𝙉 𝙋𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙐𝙇 𝙀𝙉𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃 𝘼𝙇𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙔, 𝘿𝙊𝙉’𝙏 𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝙈𝙀 𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝙄𝙏 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙎𝙀! 𝙅𝙐𝙎𝙏 𝘾𝘼𝙐𝙎𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐’𝙍𝙀 𝘾𝘼𝙋𝙎𝙄𝙕𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘼 𝙎𝙒𝘼𝙉 𝙄𝙉 𝘼 𝙋𝙊𝙊𝙇 𝘿𝙊𝙀𝙎𝙉’𝙏 𝙂𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙀𝙓𝘾𝙐𝙎𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝙈𝙀 𝙒𝙍𝙄𝙏𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙎𝙏!” 𝙇𝙮𝙨𝙨𝙖 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙤𝙥}

It was the start on another day in hell for Venus, or so she thought. She, Fleur and Hermione had just gone into the library to study when she saw the person who was the cause of all her misery over the last few weeks. Fleur and Hermione tried to drag Venus to the side of the room to avoid the slytherin girl who was trying to leave the library. Instead the following thing happened:

Venus walked up to Mel and slapped her across the cheek and yelled “WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IGNORING ME? WHAT DID I DO? WAS I NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR MISS PRISSY LITTLE PUREBLOOD? IS THIS SERIOUSLY WHAT WE’VE COME TO? DID YOU EVER WANT TO DATE ME IN THE FIRST PLACE? HUH, TELL ME THEN?” 

Mel’s eyes watered slightly as she absorbed what her, now presumed ex, girlfriend was saying. She knew she was in the wrong but she didn’t know what else to do. Something in her was telling her to stay away from the young girl. That she should only be with Charlie. That the others didn’t actually like her and that she should distance herself from them so as not to cause any heartbreak. So, instead of being the sassy Slytherin Venus had grown to love and retorting back she simply blinked back her tears and walked away from Venus towards the Slytherin common rooms and her dorm, where she could cry in peace. 

Venus froze for a second, as she realised what she had said to the girl and how she hadn’t gotten any response or answer like she had expected.

***

The Yule ball was fast approaching and Venus was trying to figure out who to ask. She couldn’t exactly ask Mel, after everything that has happened… So who could she ask? Venus kept pondering these frightening and painful thoughts, when Fleur came up to her in the courtyard,

“Hey Venus, how are you feeling today? Any better?” By the look on Venus’ face, it didn’t take a genius to tell that she has barely made any improvement. Venus didn’t reply. It was then that a familiar, annoying, prickish red-headed Gryffindor came up behind the two in a blubbering manner that Venus completely blocked out, it was as if the world had been pressed on mute, she saw Ron and Fleur’s mouth move, but she couldn’t hear anything… Well not until the deafening sound of a slap coming from the hands of Fleur.

“You fucking bitch, why are you defending that slut, from what I have heard she already has another boy toy!” He spits at Venus,

Before Fleur could beat the living shit out of the pathetic fifth year, Hermione comes to her rescue,

“YOU FUCKING EXCUSE FOR A WIZARD! HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY SISTER LIKE THAT! YOU ARE A WASTE OF OXYGEN RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY! DON’T COME NEAR ANY OF US AGAIN OR HELL WILL RAIN DOWN!” Hermione yelled before she sucker punched him, breaking his nose with a resounding snap that rang throughout the silent courtyard, everyone stunned as they watched the pathetic rodent and his cronies run away like the cowards they are. 

***

The day of the Yule Ball had come, and Venus was getting more nervous by the second, Hermione and Fleur there, all of them preparing for the big night. With everything that had happened recently, Venus’ emotions had gone haywire, and it was only as she was standing there with her two best girlfriends, that she finally felt that she was getting better.

“My hair! What am I going to do about my hair!” Venus and Fleur hear from the bathroom, a panicked Hermione rushing out, a comb stuck in her bushy mane of brown hair, a bottle in her hand. 

“Hermione… What’s that in your hand?” Venus asked carefully,

“It’s Instant Slick.” {“𝙎𝙝𝙪𝙩 𝙪𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨! 𝙀𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙅𝙚𝙧!” 𝘼𝙢𝙮 𝙮𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨}

“You do realise that, that isn’t a hair product, it’s one of the twins’ prank products that they use to trip people up. They got me once and I forgot to throw it out.” Venus spoke as she plucked the bottle out of Hermione’s hand and threw it in the bin by the side of the door. “Here, use this, it's my grandfather’s recipe.” She hands the brunette girl a small blue tub. 

It took the girls quite a bit more time till they were ready, but when everything was finished, they marveled at themselves in the mirror, “Dang we look hot!” Venus exclaims, Fleur and Hermione, happy that Venus was slowly growing back into her own skin.

Fleur was dressed in a beautiful silver-grey dress, matched with glossy pink lips and silver eye makeup, all tied together with her beautiful white-blonde hair curled back into lush curls. Hermione was dressed in a beautiful periwinkle blue dress with miniature silver sequins magically sewn into the soft dress, her lips a natural pink with a slight gloss and her eyes one of which matched her dress and finally her hair was tied back into a half-up half down curled design, with the upper half tied into a bun.

Finally there was Venus. Venus was dressed in a stunningly beautiful Hufflepuff, honey dress, lips not too prominent and more on the down-low, her eye makeup matched her dress, like her friends, and her long red hair, sat curled, just above her waist, the front part of her hair pulled back, where a lily was sewn in.

The girls took one final look at each other before leaving the Hufflepuff common room, ready to go down to the Great Hall and make a spectacular entrance.

***

As they reached the doors, Venus saw both Cedric’s and Hermione’s pupils dilate with lust as they took in what the other was wearing, they immediately walked towards each other and line up behind Victor and his partner Blaise Zabini, a fifth year Slytherin known to be best friends with the one Draco Malfoy. 

Fleur pulled Venus after her into the hall where they were to perform the starting dance of the Ball. Fleur took the position as the lead since she had had many years of dance practice at Beauxbatons and was far more experienced with the waltz they were supposed to perform. Fleur put her hand on Venus’ waist and took her right hand in her left, Venus reciprocated by placing her left hand onto Fleur’s shoulder and taking a step closer to her. Filch started the music which coaxed the two girls into slowly swaying together before taking a step forward, as Fleur stepped forward Venus stepped back and so on as they flowed in tandem to each other; occasionally Fleur would break the rhythmic movements to slowly twirl Venus under her outstretched arm and back into Fleur’s chest.

As the beat of the music slowly picked up into the peak of the music, Fleur’s lead became more extravagant leading Venus into dips and curls more so than their previous simple steps. Venus could feel a light blush coat her cheeks as she stared into the eyes of the girl opposite her which held nothing but friendly love and adoration. Smiles coated both the girls lips as they were in their own little bubble circling the hall oblivious to the stares that followed them around the room. They were so engrossed in their dance that they barely noticed when the music changed and the dance floor flooded with students. 

With a small smile, the two girls stopped dancing and walked over to the rest of the Wonderland Wizards who were standing on the edge of the hall, watching the two girls, happy that this french girl had managed to bring their little Prongslette out of her slump and help revive her. It was only now that Venus noticed that Mel wasn’t there in the hall. Fred noticed who she was looking for and pulled her over, “Noticed Winters isn’t here right? Yeah the bitch hasn’t left her room all day and is still there, alone like she deserves.” Venus felt a wave of pity flood through her thinking about her but that was quickly replaced by a feeling of anger and resent towards Mel.

“Good,” Venus replied, “ The bitch deserves after what she put me through, she needs to think about her actions and the consequences they have.”

***

The rest of the night went off with a hitch, with a slightly intoxicated Fleur and Venus who danced across the floor, where both girls blushed everytime their bodies came in close proximity, which tended to be almost constantly, the music blared in the background, but to the two champions, it was just them, dancing across the floor.

This was a different feeling to what Venus felt with Mel… With Fleur she felt safe and warm… Yes she used to find Mel attractive and definitely had feelings for the Slytherin girl… But there was just something different about Fleur, the way Venus felt in her warm pale arms, her sweet scent intoxicating, addictive, Venus could never get enough of it. 

As Venus stared into Fleur’s beautiful silver eyes, she could finally realise how the veela had every man throwing themselves at her… Other men… Venus almost let out a small growl at the thought… Why am I thinking like this? She is just meant to be your FRIEND, your friend who you are also competing against… The thought swam throughout her mind, pushing out a couple laps before Venus managed to successfully throw the heinous thought away from her headspace, for at this second, all she wanted to focus on was the way Fleur’s hands felt against hers, the way that their bodies just fitted together.

Fleur leant forward and whispered in her ear, “How about we leave this place and find someplace else?” Her silver eyes glimmered with passion, her pupils widened slightly as Venus nodded her head excitedly, wanting to throw caution to the wind.

Fleur pulled her away from the dance floor and out of the Great Hall, but not before she saw Fred and George wink at her. It was a short while before they arrived in a place that they were least likely to be caught and Fleur didn’t waste any time before attaching her lips to Venus’ in a ferocious manner, full of passion and desire. The kiss was probably one of the best Venus had ever received, and was too high on the drug of Fleur’s scent and taste to even think about her ex. Fleur’s mouth began to attack Venus’ neck, peppering kisses from her jaw before she sucked and gently bit at the juncture of her neck, which caused Venus to let out a moan of lust, and arch her back in pure pleasure.

Fleur brought her mouth back to Venus’ ear and growled, “Tonight you are mine little red,” she nipped and sucked on her earlobe before pulling on Venus’ hair to smash her lips back upon hers. At the feeling of Fleur pulling her hair, she couldn’t help but moan at the sensation, the pain she produced, caused her body to become aroused, every touch Fleur placed upon the younger girl caused her skin to set alight. 

“Fleur, aaghh, don’t stop,” Venus was far too gone to notice anything anything around her, too far into the pleasure that Fleur was giving her as she ground while she wrapped one leg around the veela, and pulled her closer, both so into each other’s pleasure as they explored each other’s mouth that they didn’t even notice the watching eye of a certain blonde Slytherin.

***

Venus raced out of the library to meet up with Cedric before they went down to the lakeside for the task.

The two lined up alongside Fleur and Victor who each gave them a small smile before facing the lake again, pecking Fleur on the cheek before standing next to her. Suddenly, Ludo Bagman pointed his wand at his throat as he had done at the World Cup, said, "Sonorus!" and his voice boomed out across the dark water toward the stands.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One… two... three!"

The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Venus pulled off her shoes and socks, and cast the bubble head charm on herself before plunging into the icy water.

Then, quite suddenly, Venus felt as though an invisible balloon had appeared around her head, the funny sensation of being able to breath ever so freely, which reminded her a lot of snorkeling, especially the trip where Dudley accidentally got mouthfuls of salty water as a big wave crashed above their heads.

She moved her hands to feel the outside of the charm due to curiosity, only to find that she could touch her face, when she was sure that there should be a bubble barrier… This made her ponder as she descended deeper into the dark lake.

Small fish flickered past her like silver darts as she sped through the murky water. Once or twice she thought she saw something larger moving ahead of her, but when she got nearer, she discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There was no sign of any of the other champions, merpeople, Fred - nor, thankfully, the giant squid.

However, she did ever so often like to visit the giant squid… He was a really good listener and often fell asleep to her singing. Light green weed stretched ahead of her as far as she could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass. Venus was staring unblinkingly ahead of her, trying to discern shapes through the gloom . . . and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of her ankle.

"How are you getting on?"

Venus thought she was having a heart attack. She whipped around and saw Moaning Myrtle floating hazily in front of her, gazing at her through her thick, pearly glasses.

"Merlin Myrtle!" Venus exclaimed, as she placed a hand over her heart, “You almost gave me a heart attack!” Moaning Myrtle actually giggled, she ever so wished right now that her friend would just go back to the girl’s bathroom.

"You want to try over there!" she said, pointing. "I won't come with you... I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close..."

Venus looked at her friend, and immediately took back her previous thoughts about the ghost, “Thanks Myrtle, I’ll make sure to pop by the bathroom soon, so expect my visit!” She replied before she followed the direction Myrtle pointed towards.

She swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. She was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as she disturbed the water. Then, at long last, she heard a snatch of haunting mersong.

"An hour long you'll have to look, And to recover what we took..."

Venus swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Venus swam on past the rock, following the mersong.

"...your time's half gone, so tarry not Lest what you seek stays here to rot..."

A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Venus saw faces . . . faces that bore no resemblance at all to the painting of the mermaid in the prefects' bathroom...

The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Venus as she swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch her better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands.  
A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.

Fred was tied between Hermione and Blaise. There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, whose clouds of silvery hair made Venus feel sure that she was Fleur Delacour's sister, Gabrielle, Venus had heard all about her sister and by the sound of it, Gabrielle was a very sweet girl. All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were rolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.  
Venus sped toward the hostages, half expecting the merpeople to lower their spears and charge at her, but they did nothing. The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong. For a fleeting second she thought of the knife Sirius had bought her for Christmas then she remembered that it was locked away in her trunk.

She looked around. Many of the merpeople surrounding them were carrying spears. She swam swiftly toward a seven-foot-tall merman with a long green beard and a choker of shark fangs and tried to mime a request to borrow the spear. The merman laughed and shook his head.

"We do not help," he said in a harsh, croaky voice.

Venus nodded in understanding before she swirled around, and began to stare around for something sharp... anything… like Fred’s wit.  
There were rocks littering the lake bottom. Venus dove down and snatched up a particularly jagged one and returned to the statue. She began to hack at the ropes binding Fred, and after several minutes' hard work, the ropes fell apart. Fred floated, unconscious, a few inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the ebb of the water.

Venus looked around. There was no sign of any of the other champions. What were they playing at? Why didn't they hurry up? What if something happened to Cedric or Fleur? She turned back to Gabriella, raised the jagged rock, and began to hack at her bindings too -

At once, several pairs of strong gray hands seized her. Half a dozen mermen were pulling her away from Gabrielle, shaking their green-haired heads, and laughing.

"You take your own hostage," one of them said to her. "Leave the others… Your task is to retrieve your own friend...leave the others…”

"She's my girlfriend’s little sister!" Venus explained to the merpeople, gesturing toward Gabrielle, but gave into the rules, after all it wasn’t like she could just steal her girlfriend’s little sister.

But then the merpeople around her pointed excitedly over her head. Venus looked up and saw Cedric swimming toward them. There was an enormous bubble around his head, which made his features look oddly wide and stretched, similar to her own.

“Got lost, how are you?” Cedric begins as he comes closer to Venus.

“I’m okay, you?” Venus replies, putting a hand on Cedric’s arm in a comforting way, “We have to cut them free, each of us have to get the ones we love the most and bring them back to the surface, be careful not to get hurt on the way up okay?” She comforted Cedric.

Cedric looks at her before replying, “Thanks sis, also Krum is on his way, Fleur got disqualified not too far into the task,” Cedric took a quick glance at the four students before returning his gaze back to Venus, “I really best be getting back to the surface.” 

Venus nods, feeling enormously relieved, as she watched Cedric pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Hermione free. He pulled her upward and out of sight.

She made her way towards Fred, focused now on getting him to the surface, however she became distracted when the merpeople started screeching animatedly. Venus turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them: a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark... It was Krum. He appeared to have transfigured himself- but badly.

The shark-man swam straight to Blaise and began snapping and biting at his ropes; the trouble was that Krum's new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin, and Venus was quite sure that if Krum wasn't careful, he was going to rip Blaise in half. Darting forward. Venus hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the jagged stone, not wanting one of her good Slytherin friends to be hurt. Krum seized it and began to cut Blaise free. Within seconds, he had done it; he grabbed Blaise around the waist, and without a backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface.

She then snatched up the stone, which Krum had dropped, but the mermen now closed in around Fred and Gabrielle, shaking their heads at her. Venus pulled out her wand. She was going to get both Fred and Gabrielle out of this, everything and anyone else who would try to get in her way could get fucked.

"Get out of the way!" The tone in the sweet girl’s tone, that every animal and creature loved to hear, was now venomous, which caused them to scatter.

Venus darted forward and began to hack at the ropes binding Gabrielle to the statue, and at last she was free. She seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed the neck of Fred’s robes, and kicked off from the bottom, before she began to sing,

“In the woodlands low, born of ice and snow,  
There’s a maiden weeping tonight.  
Snow falls softly ‘neath the winter moon”

Fred and Gabrielle were like potato-filled sacks dragging her back down... She fixed her eyes skyward, though she knew she must still be very deep, the water above her was so dark… But she just kept focusing on her singing,

“Forest bare and white, she dwells there by night,  
Listen to her cry sorrow’s song.  
Tears fall softly ‘neath the winter moon,”

Merpeople were rising with her. She could see them swirling around him with ease, watching her swim through the water, all enchanted by her voice. Venus’ legs were seizing up with the effort to keep swimming; her shoulders were aching terribly with the effort of dragging Fred and Gabrielle.

“Breathless, icy, bright.  
Daughter of the night,”

And just as Venus finished the song she felt her head break the surface of the lake; wonderful, cold, clear air was making her wet face sting; she gulped it down, feeling as though she had never breathed properly before, and, panting, pulled Fred and Gabrielle up with her. All around her, wild, green-haired heads were emerging out of the water with him, but they were smiling at her.

The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet; Venus had the impression they thought that Fred and Gabrielle might be dead, but they were wrong . . . both of them had opened their eyes; the girl looked scared and confused, but Fred merely expelled a great spout of water, blinked in the bright light, turned to Venus, and said, "Wet, this, isn't it?" Then he spotted Gabrielle. "What did you bring her for?"

"Fleur didn't turn up, I couldn't leave her, she’s my gir-... Best friend’s sister" Venus panted, as she helped the two up to the podium, where Fleur, in all of her glory, was waiting there with concern and great relief as she saw them all swimming nearer.

Once all three were up, she embraced both Gabrielle and Venus in a bone-crushing hug, and showed them just how worried she was. After a few minutes, Gabrielle turned to Venus and gave her a quick hug before running off and back to her friends, Venus turned back to Fleur, only to be met with her lips in a passionate kiss, which Venus gladly reciprocated. Everyone cheered at the sight when the two champions kissed.

“Thank you so much for saving my little sister, you know how much she means to me, I am so glad to have you in my life,” Fleur basically spent the next couple minutes giving her girlfriend hugs and peppered kisses. The outside world ignored as the two spent time in their embrace, and it was only when Ludo Bagman spoke, that they finally snapped out of their trance.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows...

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

Applause from the stands.

"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head.

“No you didn’t Fleur, I am proud of you,” Venus said to her girlfriend as she buried her head into the crook of her neck, inhaling the ever so soothing and intoxicating scent that is Fleur Delacour.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." 

Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Venus saw Hermione give Cedric a glowing look. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."

Venus’ heart sank. If Cedric had been outside the time limit, she most certainly had been, but she couldn’t help but be ever so proud of her brother, and so she was one of the people who cheered the loudest.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.

"Venus Potter too used the Bubble-Head Charm to great effect," Bagman continued. "She returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Miss Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in her return was due to her determination to make sure that all of the other hostages were safe and secure before she went and retrieved her own, even grabbing Miss Delacour’s younger sister after she heard that Fleur had been disqualified."

"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However . . . Miss Potter's score is forty-five points."

Venus’ stomach leapt - she was now tying for first place with Cedric. Fleur, who had her arms around Venus looked at her in admiration, ever so proud of Venus once again proving that she was a hero and didn’t have to listen to the rules or whatever anyone else would say.  
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions." 

“I’ll show you just how thankful I am later,” Fleur whispered in her girlfriend’s ear, which caused Venus to shudder in anticipation and excitement. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦...


	13. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɴɪɴᴇ - ꜰɪꜰᴛʏ ꜱʜᴀᴅᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ʀᴇᴅ

{“𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗙𝗘𝗪 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗘𝗫𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗣𝗬, 𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗬 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗬𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡. 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗕𝗘 𝗔 𝗦𝗬𝗠𝗕𝗢𝗟 (####) 𝗕𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗝𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗙𝗙” 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗔𝗺𝘆}

“I’m talking about earlier. I went into Myrtle’s bathroom just before I came in here and there was Ron and his sidekicks, including Ginny, trying to decide how to slip you a love potio-”

“Why didn’t you confiscate them then?” Fleur asked, “You’re a prefect you know?” Hands wrapped around Venus’ body protectively.

“They didn’t have the potions with them in the bathroom,” said Hermione scornfully, “They were just discussing tactics. I think he’s hoping to get back at you for what went down before the Ball.”

“But that wasn’t my fault,” mumbled Venus into the crook of Fleur’s neck, who was still not trying to think about everything that went down with Mel, despite the fact the fact that she kept cropping up in her dreams in ways that made her devoutly thankful that Fleur, Hermione, Fred and George make sure to keep Mel away from her.

“Well, just be careful what you drink, because Ron looks like he is looking out for murder.” said Hermione grimly.

Hermione and Fleur watched Venus with daunted expressions of concern as she pulled herself out of Fleur’s grip and hitched up the long roll of parchment on which she was writing her Arithmancy essay and continued to scratch away with her quill. 

“Well let’s watch him try!” Venus declared, as she looked back down upon her essay.

“I don’t go around putting potions in people’s drinks...or pretending too either, which is just as bad… So please just watch out for any unusual behavior and from now on don’t drink anything that’s given to you apart from us.”

“Yeah, yeah, well, never mind that,” said Venus quickly. “Ron’s not going to poison me that easily, especially with all you lot around, right? His tricks are getting old and he will soon be caught and reprehended, if not by Dumblewhore, then by Minnie or Dad” Venus had only told a select few that Sevy was her father, for she did not want to be more recognised than she already was.

“Come on, we all know that Dumblewhore doesn’t give a flying fuck about anyone apart from himself.” demanded Fleur. Hermione, Fred, George, Cedric and Venus had filled her in on what Dumblewhore was really like underneath that annoying long, white beard and fake twinkle behind those stupid glasses.

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have to live with him. Every. Single. Fucking. Day. For seven years.” muttered Venus, as she looked up from her abandoned essay and suggled back into Fleur’s arms, Fleur placing a chaste kiss on the top of Venus’ head, allowing the small Hufflepuff to cuddle into her.

Hermione and Fleur stopped dead; Venus had heard it too. Somebody was coming through the entrance to the common room.

“Hi, Venus!” said Cedric as he walked over to the trio, sitting on one of the couches and pulling a now giggling Hermione into his lap.

Hermione gave them a “I-am-so-lucky” look over her shoulder.

Fleur reciprocated Cedric’s actions and pulled a cuddling Venus into her lap so she could play with her hair.

Chloe came into the common room, a dazed look on her face as she walked across to Venus and Fleur.

“U-um, Mel, told me to give these to you as an apology.” said Chloe, thrusting a box into his hands. “Chocolate Cauldrons, they’ve got firewhiskey in them… I should get going.” With that, Chloe was off and up to the dormitory.

“Oh — right — thanks a lot.” said Venus, her voice tailing away feebly.

However good things never seemed to last when it came to Venus. Every good thing seemed to crash and burn, collapse down into flames that laid below. A tear slid down her cheek as everything seemed to come back to her in endless tidal waves of horror. The times where the darkness of the past couple weeks would break out of their constraints to haunt her, suffocate her, swallow her whole.

The thoughts that lay inside Venus’ mind, like a suffocating mass of mist, clouding, surrounding, engulfing her whole. Venus’ thoughts that kept accelerating faster and faster. She wanted to make it stop, make it stop, make it stop. She wanted them to slow down so that she could breathe. Breathing... She needed to breathe… Suffocating… She couldn’t breathe… Why couldn’t she breathe? Her breaths came in fast knocking shudders, never enough to satisfy. Venus’ lungs were on the verge of collapsing. The pain, the pain, the pain. Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop. The room spun as her vision started to falter. She had to keep reminding herself, remind herself to listen to the small voice in the back of her head, voice almost inaudible as the hammering inside her chest blocked it out, yet she could still hear it. She could hear it, she could see it, she had to listen. She’s gone, she’s not coming back, she’s gone. Venus’ eyes dart across the room to stop the suffocation... Too far away… Blackness… It's getting darker… Black dots bleed into the corners of her eyes… Knuckles white as she tried to grip onto something… Pain… Darkness.

***

{̶I̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶9̶ ̶o̶’̶c̶l̶o̶c̶k̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶r̶i̶d̶a̶y̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶i̶t̶c̶h̶y̶ ̶l̶i̶l̶ ̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶a̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶i̶t̶c̶h̶ ̶b̶o̶i̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶f̶e̶e̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶i̶s̶s̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶d̶r̶u̶g̶g̶e̶d̶ ̶c̶h̶o̶c̶o̶l̶a̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶f̶a̶i̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶h̶r̶e̶x̶y̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶i̶r̶l̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶d̶}̶

𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘺𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮

Ronald Weasley was fed up. His master plan had failed so now he had to rely on his cursing skills. He had prepared his magic chocolates for his little angel the previous week and imperioed a silly little hufflepuff into giving his heart the box of chocolates, under the guise of an apology gift from Winters.His plan had gone accordingly with his brother and the Winters girl remaining under Dumbledore’s master imperio, which made sure that they did not interfere with his plans for his dumpling. The only fault was that stupid french whore who had somehow worked her way into the spot he was supposed to have. He was supposed to be the one dating the savior, he was supposed to be the popular one, he was supposed to be the one with good relationships between his brothers. WHY WASN’T HE A PART OF THE ‘Wonderland Wizards’ he was a better wizard than all of them. But as it was, he had failed so he must move onto Plan B of A-Z, which was to imperio his brother, to convince him to tell his buttercup to meet him, or should he say Melissa Winters. 

With a simple wave of his wand, Ronald had cursed his brother to become his puppet. He instructed George to tell his whittle baby cupcake that Mel wanted to speak to her about what happened and apologise. Then all he had to do was go down to the dungeons and await his baby girl, to come join him for a night that neither of them would forget…. 

***

It was the middle of Charms and Venus couldn’t focus on the charm they were learning. They were supposed to be practicing their Aguamenti Charms till they had full control over the charm and were able to control the amount of water, it’s type and the pressure at which it came out. Instead of doing that however, Venus was thinking. Thinking about how the past two tasks had gone; what on earth the third task was going to be; Fleur; how dusty the classroom was; Fleur’s lips; last night with Fleur…. Venus shook her head as she tried to focus back on the task, moving her wand in the curved movement and thinking the spell hard, in an attempt to cast it non-verbally. To her surprise a short high pressured stream of water shot from her wand, soaking Fred who’d been sitting in front of her.

“Class please pay attention to Ms Potter as she has performed a non-verbal aguamenti charm!” Flitwick squeaked as he peered over the stack of papers on his desk. Venus blushed at the attention as eager eyes focused on her, anything to get them a few minutes out of practicing the spell.

***

Time seemed not to like Venus that much, for whenever she wished for her to speed up, time made sure to seem like she was slowing down. It wasn’t like Venus didn’t like her classes, no, she enjoyed them, loved the challenging work she received, the elated sensation of when she got a charm or spell correct, the almost unnoticeable smile upon her father’s face when she managed to get the potion right, the praise she received when Minnie would pass by her desk. No, it just seemed that all her mind could focus upon was the third task. The third task… Something felt wrong, felt off about the whole thing, something in her gut, warning her that something was going to happen…

Venus was meant to meet up with Fleur at Hogsmeade in an hour from then, and she couldn’t be more excited. It wasn’t as if the two of them were dating… No… They were more of friends with benefits, at the heart, they were almost like soul-sisters in a way, a best friend… It’s just the two of them needed somewhere to release all of the stress from the drama that had encased them that year, and they had found that release through each other. They both found out that they only really trusted each other in this way… After all, it’s not like Venus would willingly submit to someone without having full trust in the person dominating her, and she trusted Fleur with her life.

She groaned out in annoyance as she tried to find the perfect thing to wear… The weather wasn’t too cold… But it wasn’t too hot… What should she wear? What would she wear? It’s not like she was making an effort to please anyone… No, that stopped after what happened with.... No I will not think about her, I promised myself that I would put all of it in the past, I am with Fleur now and I couldn’t be happier.

It took her another ten minutes before she just decided that she was going to wear a sunflower yellow shirt with a little bumblebee embroidered on the right side, along with some deep, Ravenclaw blue denim jeans. To tie it all off she wore a nice pair of white and black sneakers, not caring too much about her messy red hair. There was no use in trying to tackle that impossible task. With that she set off for Hogsmead.

At the sight of the oh so familiar white, blonde hair a smile dawned across Venus’ face and she quickened her pace, “Fleur!” 

At the sound of her name that came from the younger red-head, the veela turned her head to be met with the girl she had broken the curfew for, but Fleur would happily state that it was totally worth it, and she would do it over and over again if it meant the veela could watch Venus’ face as she came undone at her hands. {“( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)”}

As the two brought their minds back to the present, they entwined their hands together and started to wander throughout the village, as Venus pointed out all of the best places they should visit, but the whole time, Fleur just spent admiring Venus, so happy to have such a pure and innocent girl in her life and like Cedric, Fleur made a promise right then and there, she was going to protect Venus from no matter what, even though they weren’t soulmates, she would die for Venus.

***

After Venus bid goodbye to Fleur in a not so…. PG way, she trailed backup and into the castle, as she just planned to wander aimlessly throughout the empty halls of the vast, yet majestic castle. She quickly made her way to the secluded and private area that, as far as she knew, no one else knew about… Well after all, you need to have specific blood to enter anyways.

She wandered up to the seventh floor, and turned to the brick wall to the left of where the Room of Requirement would normally be found, she pulled out her wand and chanted a small spell underneath her breath, still stunned in wonder and adoration as the stone bricks just moved to the side and created a small archway, similar to the entrance to Diagon Alley. Venus walked through to be met with the familiar sight of the warm living area, the small fireplace already stoking a blazing yellowed fire, that just made the small room glow with a homey tone.

However she didn’t stop to sit down like she normally would. No. Instead she made her way up the stone steps to where a small study was attached. The enchanted smell of all the different plants that adorned the yellow-brown walls, ever so similar to the Hufflepuff common room, made Venus weak at the knees. She would never get used to that feeling.

She stared around the room before her eyes locked with the ever so similar portrait, the plump woman that reminded her so similarly to Professor Sprout, that at times if she didn’t know that Venus herself was the only sole air to Hufflepuff, then she would think her Professor and Helga and Sprout were related.

“My dear Venus, it has been far too long, how are you little puff?” Helga asks her heir, a warm smile plastered across her face.

Venus looked back at the woman, the same smile reciprocated, “Well it’s been quite well… I have now completed two out of the three tasks and I have a steady going relationship with the french champion Fleur.” Venus was too happy to even allow her thoughts to drift off to her old Slytherin girlfriend.

Helga suspected that something must have happened between the girl and her old girlfriend, but she knew better than to touch on subjects that she thought best to leave alone, and from there, the two went on to discuss the most random of things, Venus happy that she could just escape from the wizarding world for a short while and confide into a person whom she saw as a grandmother figure.

However all good things must come to an end, and in this case she had to leave for dinner in the Great Hall, also slightly concerned that the others might have begun to look for her, so with a swift goodbye and a promise to come back she left the room and out back onto the seventh floor.

As Helga saw her small Hufflepuff leave she couldn’t help but shuffle through the old memories she held close to the girl and dearly hoped that history wouldn’t repeat itself. As more memories resurfaced of the red-headed girl, a small smile swum across her face and turned to where she knew Salazar was hidden and spoke to him, “She really is too pure for this world.”

***

####

As Ron saw his little raspberry scone sit next to Phlegm, and pretty boy Diggory his anger grew. He knew he had to carry out his plan that night, as he couldn’t deal with his little pumpkin being around any males other than him. He picks up the treacle tart and imagines it to be her arse as he bit into it harshly with drool making its way down his chin. He began moaning as he imagined what it would feel like to kiss her thick luscious lips and move his hands down her petite body. He soon realised he had a little issue downstairs and grabbed a paper napkin off the table and quickly walked out of the Great Hall, snatching a quick glance at his beloved cherry tart as he imaged squeezing her petite tits together and suckling on them like a baby would their mother and almost came in his trousers. He began to hurry back to his dorm even faster in an effort to not embarrass himself. 

####

On the other side of the Great Hall Venus Potter was enjoying her dinner surrounded by her friends, she was leaning into Fleur’s side as she slowly picked at her food, before pushing her plate away and grabbing a slice of the delightful looking treacle tart and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream. She moaned as she took a bite of the delicious dessert, and giggled as a dollop of the ice cream was shoved into her face, courtesy of Cedric, this resulted in Venus, being Venus and having to lick her chin in a funny manner as she tried to remove all of the sticky cream from her face,   
{“𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀...𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟬……”} resulting in Fleur having to wipe it all off with a small napkin, all the while Venus just sat there laughing her arse off, not noticing a certain Gryffindor boy watching the scene unfold, his face full of jealousy as he came back into the Great Hall, his face a little flushed and his trousers unbuttoned. 

“Little Red, you are a such a messy eater, what are we going to have to do with you” Fleur growled softly at her girlfriend, small smirk having woven its way onto her face as she leaned forward and gently nipped at Venus' ear before dragging her onto her lap for the whole hall.

***

After he had finished eating George decided to leave dinner early to finish the transfiguration essay he had left, in the hopes that if he ignored it long enough, it would just disappear… Sadly this had not worked. After saying a quick goodbye to his brother and friends George hurried out of the hall. 

As he walked down the corridor back down to the dungeons he stumbled upon a couple snogging in one of the alcoves, off of the main corridor, for some reason George felt drawn to stop and investigate further into what was happening. As he ducked his head into the alcove he was shocked to see ravenclaw Luna Lovegood and gryffindor Neville Longbottom ferociously chewing each other's faces off. But what was even more shocking was that, as they looked back at him he felt a sharp sting in his right forearm. His soulmark! 

A look of utter shock worked its way onto the tall ginger’s face as he realised he was mated to the two people before him. But before his thoughts could progress any further he had been dragged in to a kiss with Neville as he growled out “Mate” George couldn’t help the blush spreading over his face as Luna looked at him with dark eyes as she whispered in his ear

“Finally come back to Mummy have you little boy?” Before she too attacked his lips in a kiss, Neville searched the boy’s neck for his sweet spot which released a low moan from the Slytherin. George slipping into some sort of trance as he watched his two other mates kiss each other… The sight was intoxicating and incredibly arousing. He was panting as he just stared, enchanted as Luna and Neville began slowly rubbing their bodies together, trying to gain any friction they could while still dressed. A tug from Neville made George stumble into the older boy as he felt hands start to roam his body, small lithe hands that he recognised to be Luna’s as she looped her fingers through his belt buckles and pulled on them so she could palm him through his trousers.

George tried to ignore her actions and instead focus on the boy he was currently making out with, Neville decided now was the time to place a light bite on George’s lower lip, which left the boy moaning again as Neville took the opportunity to begin his search of his lover’s mouth. Neville groaned lightly as George decided to try and fight back, slipping his own tongue into his mouth and beginning his own roaming. That action was soon stopped as Neville placed a hand on George’s neck forcing him back, a slight trail of saliva still holding the two together. 

“Well that was a lovely surprise, who’da thought that our other soulmate was little Georgey Weasley? We’d better let you go now or your brother will get worried. But don’t think that either of us forgot about your little performance at the talent show….I’m sure Luna would also like to see that again some day,” and with that the two students left poor blushing Georgey alone in the alcove, Luna having slapped his arse on the way out.


End file.
